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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notss  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covern  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pellicuMe 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  giographiques  en  couleur 


□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I      I   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


n 


n 


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Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relii  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

Lareliure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  l«  long  de  la  marge  intiriaure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
!ors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texts, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  Att  filmies. 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplimentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  iti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduce,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  fiimage 
sont  indiqute  ci-dessous. 


D 
D 

n 


n 
0 

D 
D 
D 


1/ 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicui^es 

iPages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dicolories,  tacheties  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ditachies 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualit*  inigals  de  ('impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplimentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  er.ata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  reflimed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'eriata.  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  AtA  filmies  A  rjouveau  de  fa^on  a 
obtanir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu*  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


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12X 

16X 

20X 

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atx 

32X 

The  copy  ftlm«d  h«ra  has  b««n  raproducad  thankv 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

D.  B.  Vtfeldon  Library 
University  of  Western  Ontario 
(Regional  History  Room) 

Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  »^a  baat  quality 
poasibia  conaidaring  tha  condition  and  iagibility 
of  tha  originai  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
fiiming  contract  spacif icationa. 


L'axamplaira  fiimi  fut  raproduit  grflca  i  la 
g^nirositA  d«: 

D.  B.  Weldon  Library 

University  of  Western  Ontario 

(Regional  History  Room) 

Laa  imagaa  suh/antaa  ont  4t4  raprodultas  avac  la 
plus  grand  toin,  compta  tanu  da  la  conditio.'!  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformitA  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da  ■ 
fllmaga. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  oovara  ara  fiima'd 
baginning  with  tha  front  eovar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  iiiustratad  impraa- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  fllmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa* 
•ion,  and  anding  osi  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  impraaaiot:. 


Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  9n 
papiar  aat  imprimia  sont  fiimto  an  commandant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
damlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration.  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  caa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
originaux  sont  filmis  an  commanpant  par  la 
pramlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
dimpraaaion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  —^(moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  V  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appllat. 


Un  daa  symbolaa  suh/ants  apparattra  sur  la 
damlAra  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  salon  la 
caa:  la  symbols  -h»>  signifla  "A  SUIVRE",  la 
aymbola  V  signifia  "FIN". 


Maps,  piataa,  charts,  ate,  may  ba  fllmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antlraly  includad  in  ona  axposura  ara  fllmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  comar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framaa  as 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  illuatrata  tha 
mathod: 


Laa  cartaa,  planchaa,  tablaaux,  ate,  pauvant  itra 
fiimia  A  daa  taux  da  rMuctlon  diffAranti. 
Loraqua  la  doeumant  aat  trop  grand  pour  £tra 
raproduit  9n  un  saui  cilchA,  II  ast  film*  i  partir 
da  i'angia  supAriaur  gaucha,  da  gaucha  i  droita, 
at  da  haut  an  l>aa,  9n  pranant  la  nombra 
d'imagas  nAcaaaaira.  Laa  diagrammas  suivants 
illuatrant  la  mithoda. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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I 


AMERICAN 


FISH-CULTURE, 


EMBRACING  ALL  THE  DETAILS  OF 


AETIFIOIAL  B3EEDING  AND  EEAEING  OP  TEOUTi 
THE  OULTUEE  OF  SALMON.  SHAD  AND  OTHEB 

FISHES. 


BY  THADDEUS  NORRIS, 

AUTHOR  OF    "THE  AMERICAN   ANGLER'S   BOOK.' 
ILLITSTBATED. 


I 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER    &.    COATES. 

LONDON:   SAMPSON   LOW,  SON   &   CO. 

1868. 


■y  ■■>»■*»  »-M 


ani 


Entered,  acoprding  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

W)RTKR  &  C0ATE8, 

in  the  Clorlt's  OlBce  of  the  District  Couit  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


HEARS  *  DD8ENBCBT,  BTERI0TTPKB8. 


RRIBMAIf  *  CO.,  PBUITEB8. 


This  Book 

18     RESPECTFULLY     DEDICATED 

to 
STEPHEN  H.  AINSWORTH,   Esq., 

.     IK    APPRECIATION 

or 

HIS    PRAISEWORTHY    EFFORTS    TO    ESTABLISH 
AS  A   BRANCH   OF   NATIONAL   INDD8TRT. 


:^; 


PEEFACE. 


The  numerous  essays  and  articles  on  Fish  Culture  which  from 
time  to  time,  have  appeared  in  periodicals  and  newspapers, 
clearly  demonstrate  the  increasing  importance  of  this  branch  of 
industry,  and  have  promoted  a  spirit  of  curiosity  and  inquiry 
amongst  intelligent  people.  Some  of  the  first  minds  amongst 
our  countrymen  are  giving  serious  thought  as  to  the  means  of 
arresting  the  gradual  extinction  of  valuable  fishes,  and  restor- 
ing our  failing  and  exhausted  rivers  to  their  former  fruitful- 
ness  ;  and  are  becoming  convinced  that  the  culture  of  water  as 
well  as  of  land,  can  be  made  to  contribute  largely  to  the  sup- 
ply of  food  required  for  our  rapidly  increasing  population. 

Many  of  the  short  essays  with  their  illustrations,  which  ap- 
pear m  periodicals,  claim  the  admiration  and  excite  the  curiosity 
of  readers.  But  most  of  them,  with  their  few  and  imperfect 
directions  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure,  are  calculated  to  mislead 
rather  than  direct  the  inquirer.  With  these  facts  before  us,  the 
writer,  as  well  as  other  practical  fish  culturists,  have  declined 
many  solicitations  to  contribute  essays  of  limited  space  and 
matter  to  agricultural  and  other  periodicals ;  being  impressed 
with  the  impossibility  of  doing  the  subject  justice  if  thus 
abridged.  In  the  mean  time,  those  who  have  engaged  in  it 
and  have  a  knowledge  of  the  art,  are  applied  to  for  information 

(6) 


VI 


PREFACE. 


if 


80  frequently,  that  much  time  and  some  pains  are  required  to 
put  the  inquirer  on  the  right  road  to  success.  The  two  little 
essays  which  have  appeared  in  the  American  Angler's  Book, 
and  the  fact  of  my  having  engaged  in  the  business  since  its 
publication,  has  made  me  the  recipient  of  numerous  letters 
and  caused  a  voluminoue  correspondence.  This  has  also  been 
the  case  with  my  friend  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth,  who  informs 
me  that  the  aggregate  time  employed  by  him  in  answering 
letters  and  writing  essays  since  he  commenced  his  experiments, 
would  amount  almost  to  a  year. 

For  want  of  directions  as  to  the  details  of  breeding  and 
rearing  trout,  inexperienced  persons  who  have  commenced  it 
have  met  with  difficulties ;  which  has  discouraged  others  who 
were  .anxious  to  engage  in  the  business.  With  the  pushing 
disposition  and  impatience  of  many  of  our  countrymen,  they 
frequently  ignore  the  fact  that  in  experiments  we  learn  as 
much  from  errors  as  success.  In  view  of  these  facts  bearing 
adversely  on  this  new  branch  of  industry,  and  with  a  wish  to 
promote  it,  I  have,  at  the  solicitation  of  several  friends  who 
sympathize  in  the  desire  to  foster  it,  given  all  the  necessary 
details  to  insure  success  in  the  culture  of  our  brook  trout ; 
being  assisted,  as  the  reader  will  find,  by  one  who  is  as  well 
versed  in  the  art  as  any  of  those  whose  names  have  become 
prominent  in  this  respect  in  France.  I  have  also,  as  the 
reader  will  find  in  the  following  pages,  drawn  largely  on  my 
experience  at  the  establishment  I  inaugurated  in  Warren 
county,  New  Jersey. 

The  artificial  propagation  of  migratory  fishes  which  enter 
our  rivers,  is  destined  to  be  the  principal  means  by  which  we 
are  to  restock  our  exhausted  streams,  and  restore  those  that 
are  rapidly  declining,  to  their  former  fecundity ;  as  well  as  in 
naturalizing  valuable  species  in  waters  where  they  have  hith* 


PREFACE. 


VH 


orto  not  been  known.  On  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I  have 
brought  to  bear  many  years  of  close  observation,  and  study  of 
the  instincts  and  habite  of  such  fishes  ;  and  have  availed  my- 
self of  all  the  knowledge  of  others  that  has  come  within  my 
reach.  That  my  observations  and  directions  may  be  intelli- 
gable  to  general  readers,  in  laying  such  information  before 
them,  I  have  used  as  few  technicalities  as  I  consistently  could. 
It  will  be  seen  that  I  have  quoted  largely  from  the  great 
amount  of  useful  knowledge  elicited  by  the  enterprising  Com- 
missioners of  Fisheries  for  the  New  England  States.  One  of 
the  reasons  for  laying  such  information  before  my  readers  is, 
that  many  interested  persons  outside  of  those  states  may  not 
be  able  to  avail  themselves  of  the  importt  < '.  facts  which  have 
been  brought  to  light,  as  the  reports  alluded  to  are  published 
only  for  their  own  citizens,  or  those  who  may  apply  for  them 
to  the  Commissioners.  As  I  have  duly  credited  the  various 
sources  from  which  I  have  received  information  bearing  on 
fish  culture,  I  will  make  no  further  mention  of  them  here, 
than  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Bertram's  work, 
"  The  Harvest  of  the  Sea,"  and  Mr.  Francis's  book  on  Fish 
Culture. 

Although  some  statistics  respecting  salmon,  and  the  con- 
sumption of  Crustacea,  will  be  found  in  this  book,  I  have 
deemed  that  any  account  of  fish  that  inhabit  the  sea  exclu- 
sively, would  be  irrelevant  to  my  subject. 

The  publisher  of  an  agricultural  paper  has  urged  my  com- 
pliance with  his  request,  to  contribute  a  series  of  articles  on 
trout  culture,  ''  if  there  Were  no  state  secrets."  I  might  here 
suggest,  that  my  startihg  a  trout-breeding  establishment  for 
one  of  the  subscribers  to  his  paper  (as  I  did  for  others,  and 
that  without  remuneration),  before  I  entertained  an  idea  of 
writing  this  book,  is  an  evidence  that  I  have  never  had  any 


••  • 
VIH 


PBEFACB. 


I 


''state  secrets"  on  the  subject.  I  have  a  poor  opinion  of  the 
man  whose  narrow  mind  and  heart  would  prompt  him  to  with- 
hold any  knowledge  that  would  benefit  those  who  should  \ 
engage  in  th«»  business.  The  proprietors  of  a  similar  periodi- 
cal, who  oflfered  to  pay  liberally  for  like  contributions,  and 
who  must  be  aware  of  the  small  remuneration  I  shall  receive 
for  the  labor  bestowed  on  thi  book,  I  hope,  will  allow  that 
such  reward  has  been  but  a  small  inducement ;  and  that  the 
reason  assigned,  that  I  could  not  treat  the  subject  properly 
in  the  spaco  allowed  \n  their  columns,  is  a  substantial  one. 
lu  conclusion  of  this  preface,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  un- 
dertaken the  task  from  a  love  of  it,  and  a  desire  to  diffuse  a 
knowledge  of  the  art. 

,  That)deus  Norris. 

Philadelphia,  July  1868 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.— Introductory  Remarks  on  Fish  Culture. 
What  it  is.— Its  advantages  over  natural  propagation.— Time 
occupies',  in  hatching— Number  of  ova  of  different  species- 
Consequences  of  all  the  ova  producing  fish  that  would  come  to 
maturity.— Object  of  Fish  Culture.— Its  antiquity.— Practised  by 
the  Chinese  and  Roman!  .—Artificial  propagation  discovered  by 
Dom  Pinchon.— Rediscovered  by  M.  Jacobi.— Subsequent  dis- 
covery of  Joseph   Remy.— Alleged   discoverers.- Experiments 

of  Shaw  and  Young.— Patronage  of  the  French  government 

Its  effects  on  Scotch  and  Irish  rivers.— Its  use  as  an  adjunct  in 
restoring  American  rivers  to  their  former  fecundity.— Commis- 
sioners of  Fisheries  appointed  by  tlie  New  England  States,  and 
the  States  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.— Experiment  in  arti- 
ficial propagation  and  hatching  at  Holyoke  on  the  Connecticut. 
—Experiments  in  trout  breeding  by  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth.— 
Progress  in  trout  cuUure.—Fish  culture  in  France       .       P.  13 

CHAPTER  II— Trout  Breedino. 

The  Trout,  Trout  Pouds,  etc. 
The  Trout. -Its  adaptability  to  culture-Season  of  spawning- 
Spawning  grounds.- Appearance  of  the  sexes  at  spawning  time 
habits  and  condition— Subsequent  recuperation— Water-supply! 
—Effect  of  the  temperature  of  water  on  the  time  of  hatching—! 
Spring  water  necessary  for  in  al)ation.  Series  of  Pwirf,,— Their 
shape— Method  of  shading  them.  7?«mmy.,.-Their  construc- 
tion.-Protection  of  them  from  muskrats— Screons.-Depth  and 


X  CONTENTS. 

size  of  ponds. — Transfer  of  fish  from  one  pond  to  another. — 
Estimate  of  number  of  troat  for  a  given  supply  of  water. — Jere- 
miah Comfort's  ponds. — Stocking  ponds. — Procuring  and  trans- 
porting brood  trout        .  .  .  .  .       P.  26 

CHAPTER  III  —Trout  Bbeedino. 
Incubation  and  Treatment  of  Fry. 

Hatching  apparatus. — French  and  American  plans. — Supply  of 
water  for  a  given  number  of  eggs.  Hatching-house. — Illustration 
with  explanations. — Filterer. — Troughs. — Nursery. — Manage- 
ment of  filterer. — Washing  gravel  for  troughs. — Implements. 
Taking  th.  spawn. — ^^ction  of  the  female  when  about  to  spawn. 
— Method  of  catching  the  fish  on  the  spawning-beds. — Indications 
of  the  maturity  of  the  eggs. — Manipulation. — Placing  the  ova  in 
the  troughs. — Packing  and  transportation  of  eggs.— Manner  of 
taking  a  large  number  of  eggs  for  transportation  from  a  trough. 
— How  to  examine  them. — Illustration  with  explanations  of  the 
appearance  of  ova  at  different  stages  during  incubation. — Table 
showing  progress  of  incubation  with  water  at  different  degrees 
of  temperature. — Hatching  out  and  progress  in  growth  and  ac- 
tivity of  fry.  Treatment  of  fry. — Their  food,  and  manner  of 
feeding  them. — Their  disposition  to  escape. — Transferring  them 
to  the  nurseries. — Their  admission  into  the  first  pond. — Trans- 
portation of  fry  .  .  .  .  .  42 

CHAPTER  IV.- Tkodt  Bbeedino. 
General  Remarks,  Food  for  Adults,  Profits  and  Statistics. 
Food  of  adult  Trout. — Curd,  liver,  maggots. — Maggot  factory. — 
Allowance  of  food  for  a  given  number. — Natural  food. — Stall 
feeding  and  its  advantages. — Trout  culture  a  branch  of  farming. 
— Facilities  possessed  by  farmers. — Will  fish  culture  pay  ? — In- 
stances of  its  being  profitable. — Estimate  of  cost  of  feeding  on 
curd. — Proposed  trout  breeding  at  Ingham  Spring. — Growth  of 
trout. — Description  of  Huningiie,  and  M.  de  Galbert's  estab- 
lishment, in  France. — Heidelberg. — Fish  cultural  enterprise 
in  Switzerland — Trout  culture  in  the  United  States.— Notice 
of  Mr.  Ainsworth's  establishment.  —  Description  of  Seth 
Green's  ......  78 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  v.— CuLTCBE  op  the  Salmon. 


xi 


The  Salmon. — Its  instincts. — Difference  in  appearance  and  size  of 
those  belonging  to  different  rivers. — Their  former  abundance  and 

cause  of  decline  in  numbers. — Their  growth  and  adolescence 

Migrations. — Time  of  ova  hatching  in  European  and  American 
rivers— Growth  of  the  fry,  with  illustrations.— Early  fecundit;- 
of  the  males. — Attempts  at  artificial  propagation  in  the  United 
States. — Their  naturalization. — Fishways,  with  illustrations. 
Salmon  breeding. — At  Stormontfield. — On  the  Dee. — On  the 
Galway.— On  the  Doohulla.-— At  Ballisodare.— In  Australia.— 
Salmon  statistics  .  .  .  .  .     P.  102 


CHAPTER  VI.— Cdltuhe  of  the  Shad. 

The  Shad. — Its  instincts,  and  analogies  to  the  salmon. — Migra- 
tions.— Former  abundance. — Incubation  of  its  ova.— Its  growth. 
— Its  introduction  into  rivers  flowing  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
by  Dr.  Daniell.— Hatching  its  spawn  at  Holyoke.— Ascent  by 
fishways  over  dam  of  Susquehanna  Canal  Company.— Report 
of  Colonel  James  Worrall.— TAe  Alewi/e         .  .  Ui 

CHAPTER  VII. — Naturalization  of  Fishes. 

General  remarks.  Salmonid^b.— 77/e  Brook  7>om<.— Instances 
of  its  naturalization.     The  Lake  Trout.— Mr.  Robinson's  letter 

on  its  propagation.     The  Schoodic  and  S<hago  Salmon Extract 

concerning  its  habits  and  propagation,  from  Maine  Fish  Commis- 
sioners' Report.  The  Sea  Trout  of  Canada.— Advantages  of 
naturalizing  it.  ITie  Grayling.— mw  species  found  in  Michi- 
gan. The  White  Fish.— Its  excellence,  habits,  and  manner  of 
propagating.  The  Otsego  Bass.— Not  a  bass.  The  Smelt.— 
General  remarks.  Percidve.— 77*e  Rock  Fish.— The  Crappie. 
—The  Black  Bass  of  the  Lakes.— Its  adaptability  to  naturaliza- 
tion. The  Black  Bass  of  the  West  and  South.— Its  introduction 
into  the  Potomac— Mr.  Wright's  score  of  fish  taken  with  the 
rod.— Their  natiiralizntion  in  niill-i)onds.  Sihjrid^:.— .SV«„// 
Species.— Their  excellence  as  food.— Manner  cf  cooking  them. 
—Their  proposed  introduction  into  England.  CypiuNn);»;.— 
General  remarks  on.  Esocid^.— Injurious  results  from  intro- 
ducing them       .  .  .  .  ^  ^  ,  yg 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAx*TER  VIII.— Culture  of  Eelc. 

Probability  of  eels  being  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  cultivated. 
—General  remarks  on  eels. — Eel  culture  at  Comacchio     P.  219 

CHAPTER  IX.— CuLTUBB  of  Otstebs. 

The  Oyster, — An  hermaphrodite.  Its  fecundity. — Its  spawn  or 
"spat,"  and  its  manner  of  incubation. — Emission  of  the  spat, 
and  its  destruction  by  marine  animals. — Importance  of  its  find- 
ing something  to  fasten  to. — Places  favorable  to  its  growth. — 
Transportation  of  seed  oysters  to  the  north.— Growth  of  the 
young  oyster. — Chief  object  in  the  culture  of  oysters.  Oyster 
Culture  at  Fusaro. — Its  antiquity. — Its  progress  in  France  at  the 
Bay  of  St.  Brieuc  and  the  Island  of  Rce.— English  and  French 
oysters. — Decrease  of  oysters  in  Eastern  States. — Governor 
Wise's  estimate  of  the  area  and  value  of  oyster-beds  in  Vir- 


gmia 


225 


M 


APPENDIX. 

I. — Natural  food  of  Trout  ...  23 

II. — Messrs.  Martin  and  Gillone's  system  of  hatch- 
ing AND  SEARING  YOUNG  SaLMON       .  .  241 

III. — Culture  of  Carp         ....  244 

IV. — Discovery  op  artificial  fecundation  by  Jacobi  245 
V. — Artificial  Spawning-beds     .  .  248 

VI. — The  Gourami. — Its   Habitat,   or  Native  Coun 

try         .  t  •  .  .        .  250 

VII. — Cold  Spring  Trout-ponds      .  .  .  264 

VIII. — Clove  Spring  Trout-ponds    .  .'  .  272 

IX. — Cultivation  of  Fur-bearing  Animals  .  274 

X. — American  Fish  for  English  Waters  .  278 

XI. — Dr.   J.    H.    Slack's  Trout-breeding    Establish- 
ment   ......  287 

XII. — Stephen    H.    Ainsworth's    new    Hatching-race, 

FOR  Natural  Propagation  .  .  288 

XIII.— Crustacea     .  ....  290 

XIV. — Salmon  Hatching  Establishment  on  the  Mira- 

>ncHi  ......  297 


AMERICAN  FISH   CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS  ON  FISH  CULTURE. 

What  it  is.— Its  advantages  over  natural  propagation.— Time  occu- 
pied in   hatching.— Number  of  ova  of  different   species.— Conse- 
quences of  all  the  ova  producing  fish  that  would  come  to  maturity. 
—Object  of  Fish  Culture.— Its  antiquity.— Practised  by  the  Chinese 
and  Romans — Artificial  propagation  discovered  by  Dom  Pinchon. 
—Rediscovered  by  M.  Jacobi.— Subsequent  discovery  of  Joseph 
Remy.— Alleged  discoverers.— Experiments  of  Shaw  and  Young.— 
Patronage  of  the  French  government.— Its  effects  on  Scotch  and 
Irish  rivers.— Its  use  as  an  adjunct  in  restoring  American  rivers  to 
their  former  fecundity.— Commissioners  of  fislieries  appointed  by 
the  New  England  States,  and  the  States  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania.— Experiment  in  artificial  propagation  and  hatching  at  Hol- 
yoke  on  the  Connecticut— Experiments  in  trout  breeding  by  Ste- 
phen H.  Ainsworth— Progress  in  trout  culturo.-Fish  culture  in 
France. 


It  may  be  asked,  what  is  Fish  Culture.     The  reply  is, 
tha.  V  is  the  propagation  offish  by  artificial  moans,  and  the 
2  (13) 


w 


14 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTUEE. 


protection  of  the  young  from  the  dangers  to  which  they  are 
exposed  in  their  natural  haunts ;  assisting  and  in  a  great 
degree  improving  on  nature.     It  may  still  be  asked,  can 
you  assist  or  improve  on  nature  ?    To  this  I  respond,  that 
if  the  fish  culturist  has  the  impregnated  spawn  under  his 
own  protection  and  supervision,  it  will  be  subjected  to  none 
of  the  casualties  to  which  it  is  exposed  in  the  stream  where 
the  parent  fish  deposits  it.     That  no  flood  will  sweep  it 
away  or  cover  it  with  dirt,  sawdust,  or  tanbark.     That  no 
fish  of  its  own  or  other  species,  sailing  around  like  pirate 
craft,  will  devour  it  as  it  is  ejected.     That  no  eel  or  lamprey 
will  burrow  into  the  gravel-covered  nest  to  make  a  dainty 
meal  of  its  contents.     That  no  duck,  wild  or  tame,  or  long- 
legged  wading-bird  will  gobble  it  up.     That  no  water-rat, 
muskrat,  mink,  or  other  predacious  quadruped  will  feed 
upon  it.     I  would  now  in  return  ask  my  interrogator,  if 
ten  out  of  a  hundred  eggs  should  escnpe  all  these  adverse 
contingencies  and  produce  ten  infant  fish,  if  he  supposes 
their  own  father  and  mother  or  other  fish  would  hesitate 
for  an  instant  to  pouch  them,  or  that  aquatic  birds  which 
would  have  gobbled  them  up  in  embryo  would  spare  them 
now?      Does  he  think  that  three  out  of  the  ten  infants 
would  arrive  at  mature  fishhood  ?     Close  observers  think 
not,  especially  if  they  were  ten  infant  trout  or  salmon,  each 
weighed  down  with  the  umbilical  sac  of  aliment  which  it 
carries  under  its  belly  for  forty  or  fifty  days.     But  if  the 
fish  culturist  puts  the  eggs  of  salmon  or  trout  into  his  hatch- 
ing-trough, he  will  likely  get  eighty  or  ninety  young  fish 
from  a  hundred.     If  trout,  seventy  or  eighty  of  the  fry 


INTRODUCTORY  RExMARKS. 


15 


ch  they  are 
in  a  great 
asked,  can 
spond,  that 
a  under  his 
ted  to  none 
ream  where 
11  sweep  it 
.     That  no 
like  pirate 
or  lamprey 
ie  a  dainty 
le,  or  long- 
D  water-rat, 
i  will  feed 
Togator,  if 
9se  adverse 
e  supposes 
Id  hesitate 
•irds  which 
spare  them 
ben  infants 
vers  think 
Imon,  each 
it  which  it 
But  if  the 
his  hatch- 
young  fish 
of  the  fry 


may  he  growu  to  weigh  a  pound  or  more,  in  three  years, 
and  are  worth  seventy-five  cents  or  a  dollar  a  pound  in 
market. 

If  my  querist  reads  scientific  journals,  he  will  see  that 
Dr.  Daaiell,  of  Savannah,  transported  the  fecundated  spawn 
of  shad  across  the  country  to  a  tributary  of  the  Alabama, 
ten  years  ago,  and  hatched  them  out  and  stocked  that  noble 
river  and  its  branches  with  this  favorite  fish.  If  he  only 
reads  the  newspapers,  he  must  have  found  out  that  Seth 
Green  sends  trout  spawn  by  thousands  to  all  parts  of  the 
Northern  and  Middle  States.  That  Dr.  Fletcher  has  brought 
salmon  eggs  from  the  British  province  of  New  Brunswick 
to  stock  the  salmonless  rivers  of  New  England,  and"  that 
salmon  spawn  has  even  been  sent  from  England  to  Australia 
to  introduce  that  noble  fish  there.  That  barren  salmon 
rivers  of  Ireland  and  Scotland  have  by  means  of  fish  culture 
been  restored  to  their  former  fecundity ;  and  rivers,  and 
even  brooks,.that  before  had  no  salmon,  have  been  made 
fruitful  of  them. 

There  is  scarcely  a  month  in  the  calendar  in  which  fish 
of  some  genus  or  other  do  not  spawn.  Some  deposit  their 
eggs  on  stones,  brush,  or  aquatic  plants,  the  ova  adhering 
by  a  glutinous  substance  which  surrounds  them.  Others, 
as  the  salmon  family,  excavate  their  nests  on  gravelly  beds 
in  running  water,  cover  their  spawn  and  leave  it  to  the 
care  of  mother  nature.  Some,  such  as  the  stickleback,  the 
sunfish,  the  black-bass,  and  others  of  the  perch  family, 
build  nesta  and  stand  guard  over  them.  Othei-s,  including 
some  species  of  Siluridae,  known  as  catfish,  have  a  parental 


Tf 


\ 


I : 


16 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


iM 


care  for  their  young,  and  lead  them  about  as  a  hen  does  her 
chickens. 

The  time  occupied  in  hatching  the  spawn  also  varies. 
That  of  the  salmon  requires  from  forty  to  over  two  hun- 
dred days,  according  to  the  temperature  of  the  water ;  while 
the  spawn  of  the  shad  in  water  at  75°  hatches  in  fifty-two 
to  sixty  hours. 

The  number  of  eggs  produced  by  different  species  vary 
as  wide  as  the  time  of  incubation.  A  salmon  of  ten  pounds 
only  gives  ten  thousand  eggs,  or  a  thousand  to  each  pound 
of  its  weight;  while  a  good-sized  codflsh  gives  a  million,  a 
herring  forty  or  fifty  thousand,  and  a  five-pound  shad  a 
hundred  thousand.  But  a  small  percentage  of  ova  produce 
fish,  as  it  is  food  for  fishes  and  other  aquatic  animals.  If 
all  the  fish  eggs  produced  were  hatched  and  the  fry  arrived 
at  mature  age,  the  seas  would  be  so  full  that  they  could 
not  be  navigated,  and  rivers  and  lakes  would  be  plethoric. 
The  object  of  fish  culture  is  to  profit  by  knowledge  of  the 
facts  I  have  mentioned,  and  to  turn  a  portion  of  the  waste 
of  piscine  life  to  human  account. 

As  far  back  as  our  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  extends, 
we  find  that  fecundated  fish  spawn  with  them  has  been  an 
article  of  traffic.  The  manner  of  procuring  it  is  by  placing 
fagots  on  frames  permanently  fixed  in  waters  where  fish 
are  accustomed  to  spawn.  At  the  proper  time  the  fagots 
are  collected  with  the  spawn  adhering,  and  the  ova  either 
hatched  out  by  those  who  collect  it,  or  is  sold  and  trans- 
ported in  water.  The  flooded  rice-fields  are  frequently 
used  for  raising  the  young  fish.     I  would  here  remark  that 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


17 


this  spawn  must  necessarily  be  mostly  of  species  belonging 
to  the  carp  family,  which  abound  in  China.  By  this  mode 
of  culture,  fish  are  made  so  abundant  and  cheap  there  that 
they  are  the  chief  food  of  the  people. 

The  Romans,  vying  with  each  other  in  the  splendor  of 
their  feasts,  left  no  means  unemployed  of  spreading  their 
tables  with  the  best  fish   their  climate  aflforded,  and  fish 
culture  was  brought  into  requisition  to  a  great  extent  to 
supply  this  demand.     M.  Jourdier,  a  French  writer  on  this 
subject,  says  of  Lucullus,  "  at  his  house  at  Tusculum,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Naples,  he  dug  canals  from  his  fish- 
ponds  to  the  sea.      Into  these  canals  freshwater  streams 
were  led,  and  pure  running  water  thus  kept  up.     Sea-fish 
that  breed  in  fresh  water  passed  through  the  canals  into 
his  ponds,  and  stocked  them  with  their  young.     When  they 
attempted    to    return    to    sea,    flood-gates    barred    their 
egress  at  the  mouths  of  the  canals,  and  while  their  progeny 
were  growing  the  parent  fish  supplied  the  market."     The 
value  of  the  fish  kept  in  these  ponds,  it  is  stated,  amounted 
to  a  sum  which  in  our  money  would  be  equal  to  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Fish  culture  appears  to  have  fallen  into  disuse  after  the 
fall  of  the  Roman  republic,  as  we  find  no  mention  of  it 
until  the  fourteenth  century,  when,  according  to  M.  Jourard, 
Dom  Pinchon,  a  monk  of  the  Abbey  of  R6ome,  discovered 
the  art  of  breeding  fish  in  wooden  boxes,  the  ends  being 
of  wicker  work  and  the  bottoms  covered  with  sand,  in  which 
excavations  were  made  and  the  ova  deposited.  The  art 
was  rediscovered  about  the  year  1763  by  Jacobi  a  German. 


9  * 


B 


ff 


ii 


18  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

Bertram,  in  his  "  Harvest  of  the  Seas,"  says  :  "  Jacobi,  who 
practised  the  art  for  thirty  years,  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
mere  discovery,  but  at  once  turned  what  he  had  discovered 
to  practical  account ;  and  in  the  time  of  Jacobi  great  atten- 
tion was  devoted  to  pisciculture  by  various  gentlemen  of 
scientific  eminence.  Count  Goldstein,  a  savan  of  that 
period,  also  wrote  on  the  subject.  The  Journal  of  Hanover 
had  papers  on  this  art,  and  an  account  of  Jacobi's  proceedings 
was  also  enrolled  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 

Berlin The  results  arrived  at  by  Jacobi  were  of 

vast  importance,  and  obtained  not  only  the  recognition  of 
his  government,  but  also  the  more  solid  reward  of  a 
pension." 

It  is  strange  that  so  important  a  discovery  should  not 
have  produced  more  permanent  results,  and  that  it  should 
not  have  been  followed  up  at  that  time  with  the  same  suc- 
cess which  has  attended  the  after-discovery  of  Joseph  Ilemy- 
Jacobi's  mode  of  hatching  the  ova  of  salmon  and  trout, 
was  the  same  as  that  of  his  predecessor,  Dom  Pinchon, 
using  gravel,  however,  instead  of  sand  in  his  hatching-boxes. 
Dom  Pinchon  is  the  first  of  whom  it  is  recorded  that  he 
expressed  the  ova  and  fecundateil  it  with  the  milt  of  the 
male  fish  ;  the  Chinese  and  Romans  had  not  arrived  at  this 
point  in  their  pisciculture. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  there  was  con- 
siderable controversy  amongst  naturalists  and  fishermen  7'n 
Great  Britain,  concerning  a  little  fish  known  as  the  parr; 
whether  it  was  a  distinct  species  or  the  young  of  the  sal- 
mon.    Also,  whether  the  young  salmon  arrived  at  its  smolt 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  jg 

State  and  made  its  first  migration  to  sea  the  second  or  third 
summer  of  its  existence.     To  decide  these  points  of  dispute, 
Mr.  Shaw,  of  Drumlanrig,  and  Mr.  Andrew  Young,  of 
Invershin,  Scotland,  about  the  year  1834  bred  salmon  Irti- 
ficially  in  wooden  boxes.    It  is  likely  they  were  aware  of  the 
plan  pursued  by  Jacobi  and  followed  his  example,  as  their 
mode  was  not  heralded  as  a  discovery,  and  was  not  different 
in  any  essential  point  from  that  of  Jacobi.     I  will  here  say 
that  the  result  of  their  experiments  proved  the  parr  to  be 
the  young  of  the  salmon,  and  that  the  contestants  were 
both  right  as  to  the  period  of  its  first  migration  to  sea,  as 
It  has  been  clearly  ascertained  that  a  portion  of  them,  even 
of  the  same  brood,  will  migrate  the  second  summer,  and 
another  portion  defer  their  journey  until  the  following  year. 
It  IS  stated  also,  that  pisciculture  was  practised  in  x\orway 
previous  to  the  experiments  made  by  Shaw  and  Young,  and 
that  James  Hogg,  the  Ettrick  Shepherd,  was  one  of  its  dis- 
coverers. 

It  is  useless  to  dwell  on  facts  that  the  most  obtuse  have 
not  failed  to  notice.     I  allude  to  the  gradual  extinction  and 
banishment  from  our  rivers  of  the  more  valuable  species, 
and  the  consequent  enhanced  value  of  such  fish  in  our 
markets,  rendering  them  almost  unattainable  by  persons  of 
moderate  means.     The  old  countries  of  Europe,  thouoh 
more  provident,  have  suffered,  more  or  less,  in  the  same 
way,  and  fish  as  food  has  become  a  question  of  vast  impor- 
tance.     The  French  government  has  fostered  fish  culture 
chiefly  for  this  reason,  and  to  such  purpose  that  in  a  few 
years  there  will  scarcely  be  an  acre  of  barren  water  in  tb« 


^ 


\ 


i 

i! 


20  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

empire.      Not  only  fish  but  oysters,  crayfish,  and  other 

Crustacea  are  being  multiplied  by  this  new  science. 

The  discovery  of  Joseph  Remy  has  produced  practical 
results  which  did  not  follow  those  of  his  predecessors.    This 
French  peasant,  who  gained  a  livelihood  from  the  Moselle,  its 
tributaries,  and  other  streams  of  his  native  district,  La 
Bresse,  lamenting  the  sure  extinction  of  the  finer  lands  of 
fish;  by  long  and  anxious  vigils  became  convinced  of  the 
outer  impregnation  of  the  spawn  and  all  the  n-lverse  vicissi- 
tudes to  which  it  and  the  young  fry  were  exposed.     His 
experiments  based  on   these  observations  were  successful 
beyond  his  anticipations,  and  in  1849,  when  his  doings  and 
those  of  his,  companion  Gehin  were  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  M.  Coste,  professor  of  Biology  in  the  College  of 
France,  improvements  were  made  in  the  manner  of  hatch- 
ing the  ova,  the  patronage  of  the  government  was  secured, 
and  the  present  establishment   at   Huningue,  and  subse- 
quently its  branches,  were  inaugurated.      The  efi"ects  of 
liberal  and  judicious  government  patronage  bave  not  only 
been  spread  over  France,  but  its  henefits  have  reached  all 
parts  of  enlightened  Europe;  and  our  own  country  is  now 
resorting   to   this   new  science   to  restock   its   exhausted 
rivers,  and  adopting  it  as  a  branch  of  industry. 

In  a  chapter  devoted  .u  iiuT  aalmon  I  shall  endeavor  to 
give  a  summary  of  v  h:>t  'o.^^  ^^en  done  iu  Scotland  and 
Ireland  in  cultivating  that  valuable  fish. 

In  this  country,  our  utter  disregard  for  the  bounties  of 
nature  so  wonderfully  lavished  upon  us,  and  our  inordinate 
rage  for  internal  improvements,  have  caused  our  state  gov- 


id  other 

• 

practical 

•8.    This 
Dselle,  its 
trict,  La 
Vinds  of 
>d  of  the 
36  vicissi- 
ed.     His 
mccessful 
oings  and 
he  know- 
lollege  of 
of  hatch- 
s  secured, 
,nd  subse- 
effects  of 
e  not  only 
cached  all 
try  is  now 
exhausted 

nd^avor  to 
atland  and 

)ounties  of 

inordinate 

r  state  gov- 


I 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  21 

ernments  rather  to  legislate  for  the  extinction  than  the 
protection  and  continuance  of  the  finer  species  of  migratory 
fishes.    Individuals  have  been  allowed,  and  companies  have 
been  chartered,  to  construct  impassable  dams,  driving  back 
salmon  and  shad  from  their  spawning-beds;  and  not  only 
above,  but  below  such  barriers  most  of  our  rivers  have 
become  as  barren  of  such  fish  as  if  they  had  never  resorted 
to  them.     These  are  not  the  natural  consequences  of  civil- 
ization  and  progress,  as  some  would  urge,  but  rather  of  bar- 
barism  and  reckless  improvidence ;  and  at  last,  when  a  shad 
or  a  pound  of  salmon  is  sold  for  twenty  times  the  price  it 
brought  when  we  ceased-  to  be  colonies  of  Great  Britain, 
our  legislators  have  set  seriously  to  work  to  regain  for  nj 
the  liberal  provisions  of  nature  which  they  have  tJirown 
away. 

Our  separate  interests  as  states,  it  is  to  te  feared,  will 
defer  or  prevent  the  restoration  of  many  rivers  to  their  for- 
mer fruitfulness,  as  many  of  them  form  the  boundaries 
between,  or  flow  through,  several  states.   The  New  England 
States,  notwithstanding,  have  at  length  set  to  work  with  a 
will,  and,  from  all  we  can  gather  from  the  reports  of  their 
fish  commissioners,  there  is  much  good  feeling  and  concert 
of  action.     The  joint  commission  have  defined  the  part  to 
be   taken   by  each  state.      Those  to  whose  territory  the 
spawning-beds  of  the  long  rivers  arc  confined,  have  a<.reed 
to  stock  them  with  shad  and  salmon,  and  are  usin^  the 
fecundated  spawn  of  these  fish  to  do  it  the  more  speedily 
The  enormous  number  of  forty  millions  of  young  shad  were 
hatched  out  by  Seth  Green  at  Holyoke  on  the  Connecticut 


II 


52  AMERICAN  FISH  CDLTUEE. 

W  summer  a„d  turood  into  the  river.     The  iatermediate 
states  are  to  constr-act  efficient  Sshways  for  the  pa».age  of 
the  fish  to  their  spawning-grounds.      Those  owning  the 
„,onths  of  the  rivers  are  to  provide  against  destructive  fish- 
ing, and  give  a  free  pa«ge  to  the  upper  waters.     All  the 
s«es  referred  to  have  enaeted  laws,  or  revived  those  that 
were  obsolete,  to  promote  the  object  in  view.    It  is  devouUy 
to  be  hoped  that  a  liberal  spirit  will  prevail,  and  that  the   ■ 
energy  v.hieh  now  characterizes  the   commissioners  w.l 
continue  until  the  much-desired  end  is  attained.     I  shall 
have  occasion  to  refer  to  the  reports  of  the  commissioners 
of  each  state ;  that  of  Maine  is  lengthy,  and  contains  much 
of  interest  U,  the  friends  of  the  enterprise;  the  Vermont 
report  is  also  interesting,  and  that  of  Massachusetts  inslruo- 
tive,  practical,  and  spirited. 

Th"  state  of  New  York  has  also  appointed  fish  commis- 
sioners.    It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth 
is  not  of  the  number.    Still,  from  the  reputed  energy  of  Mr. 
K  B  Eoosevelt  and  the  known  experience  and  skdl  of  Mr. 
Seth  Green,*  we  may  expect  favorable  results.    If  the  latter 
should  go  to  Canada  or  New  Brunswick  to  manipulate  the 
salmon,  and  then  have  charge  of  the  hatching,  there  ,s  no 
fear  that  the  Hudson  and  the  stt^ams  flowing  mto  the  St 
Lawrence  and  the  Lakes  will  be  without  salmon  for  n.any 
years  after  the  fry  are  produced.    Of  course  fishways  are 
to  be  constructed,  and^wsfM^theprotect^^ 

'  V^nZ:^r'^^^^^''  I "»"  "«" '"'""""' """  ''"'■°''."™' 
Seymour,  wl,„,  i.  i«  -.1^,  «k«  ■»'■*  '"'-«'  "'  "'°  "'°"°''  ""  '""'° 
added  to  thi'-  i!umiui^«ion. 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


II 


23 


fry  rigidly  e'nforced,  or  no  permanent  good  will  come  from 
merely  stocking  the  rivers. 

Pennsylvania,  on  the  30th  of  March  1866,  passed  a  law 
making  it  incumbent  on  the  owners  of  dams  on  the  Susque- 
hanna and  its  tributaries,  whether  companies  or  individuals, 
to  erect  eflScient  fishways  over  such  dams  by  the  first  of 
December  of  that  year,  and   a  competent  engineer  was 
appointed  to  see  the  law  enforced.     The  companies  who 
had  bought  the  diflFercnt  internal  improvements  from  the 
state,  contended  that  they  were  purchased  without  encum- 
brance, and  resist  the  kw,  as  some  other  companies  also  do, 
and  it  is  now  a  matter  of  litigation.     One,  however,  the 
Susquehanna  Canal  Company,  acquiesced  and  constructed 
a  fishway  under  the  supervision  of  the  engineer  appointed. 
The  report  of  this  gen.'  mm  to  the  legislature  shows  that 
shad  in  numbers  and  or  large  sizt  ascended  the  fishways 
in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1867,  and  were  taken  as  high 
up  as  New  Port  on  the  Juniata;  the  number  being  vari- 
ously estimated  from  ten  thousand  to  eighteen  thousand. 
Numerous  fry  were  also  seen  in  the  river  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  sumiut^i,  as  well  as  some  bodies  of  Shad  that 
had  died,  as  they  frequently  do,  from  the  exhausting  efi-ects 
of  spawning.      This  proves   conclusively  that  shad  will 
ascend  rivers  to  new  spawning-beds  if  suitable  fishways  are 
provided.     To  introduce  them  into  tributaries  which  they 
may  not  enter,  or  to  repopulute  the  Susquehanna  the  more 
speedily,  artificial  propagation  must  of  course  be  resorted 
to.     If  it  should  be  decided  that  the  Act  of  March  80th 
18G6  is  not  constitutional,  it  remains  for  the  stjite  to  defray 


nm  i 


24  AMERICAN  FISH  CUT.TURB. 

the  cost  of  restoring  to  the  people  who  dwell  on  the  river  ■ 
in  question  and  its  tributaries,  the  privileges  of  which  it 
unjustly  deprived  them  in  constructing  internal  improve- 
ments, or  granted  away  to  corporate  companies.  This  the 
New  England  States  have  already  done,  and  when  appro- 
priations have  fallen  short  in  effecting  some  desired  object, 
commissioners  have  footed  the  bill,  trusting  to  the  liberality 
of  their  state  to  refund  the  difference. 

Although  our  state  governments  have  been  tardy  in  avail- 
ing themselves  of  the  benefit  to  be  obtained  from  this  new 
science,  individual  curiosity  and  enterprise  have  not  been 
idle.     From  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  requirements  and 
mode  of  procedure,  however,  success  in  most  cases  has  been 
small  or  unsatisfactory,  and  experiments  have  been  almost 
or  entirely  confined  to  breeding  trout.     Our  most  zealous 
and  able  fish  culturist,  Stephen  11.  Ainsworth,  commenced 
ten  years  ago  with  whatever  light  he  could  get  on  the  sub- 
ject  from  newspapers  and  periodicals,  generally  accounts  of 
what  was  doing  in  France.     With  a  supply  of  water  that 
does  not  fill  an  inch  auger  hole,  and  of  exceedingly  varia- 
ble temperature,  it  may  be  said,  he  has  taught  himself  this 
science,  discovering  many  of  its  hidden  truths  not  recorded 
by  French  fish  culturist?,  and  is  now  our  chief  authority  on 
all  matters  pertaining  to  it.     He  imparts  the  knowledge 
he  has  gained  by  years  of  unwearied  observation,  to  all 
inquirers,  and  has  done  much  by  his  letters  and  newspaper 
contributions  to  create  an  interest  in  the  art.     He  has  been 
my  preceptor;  all  that  I  shall  endeavor  to  teach  in  a  chap- 
ter  on  trout  breeding  are  lessons  which  I  have  learned  of 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


25 


him,  or  from  my  own  experience  which  grew  out  of  his 
teachings.  I  will  give  a  brief  description  of  his  establish- 
ment and  that  of  his  neighbor,  Seth  Green,  in  a  subse- 
quent chapter. 

Breeding  and  raising  trout  for  private  use  and  to  supply 
our  markets  is  destined  to  become  a  national  branch  of 
industry,  and  many  who  possess  the  requisite  natural  advan- 
tages are  now  turning  their  attention  to  it.  I  shall  notice 
the  efforts  of  many  of  those  who  have  commenced  it,  under 
its  appropriate  head. 

I  have  alluded  on  a  former  page  to  the  fact  that  the 
French    government  is    making   every   effort   to   extend 
this  branch  of  industry,  so  that  waste  waters  which  were 
entirely  barren,  are  now  beginning  to  be  more  productive 
than  the  same  area  of  cultivated  land.     The  fish  ponds  of 
Doombes  extend  over  thirty  thousand  acres.     Under  the 
advisement  of  proficient  persons  appointed  by  the  govern- 
ment, all  kinds  of  waters  are  stocked  with  fish  suitable  to 
them  :  carp,  perch,  eels  and   pike    for  sluggish   streams, 
lakes  and  ponds ;  trout  for  the  bounding  cool  brook,  and 
the  salmon  for  the  clear  swift  river.    France  being  a  Roman 
Catholic  country,  with  its  many  fast  days,  fish  are  more 
requisite   than  where   Protestantism   prevails;   therefore, 
fish  of  the  cheaper  kinds  are  more  in  demand  than  with 
us,  and  are  used  whore   meats  would  l)o   bought  in  our 
markets.     The  cultivation  of  oysters,  as  well  as  Crustacea, 
is  fostered  by  the  government;  so,  also,  is  that  of  sea-fish. 
Experiments  are  even  being  .»aade  on  the  sea  coasts,  in  the 
propagation  and  rearing  of  the  finer  kinds  of  turtles. 
3 


26 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  11. 

TROUT  BREEDING. 

THE  TROUT,  TROUT  PONDS,  ETC. 

The  TrouL-ItB  adaptability  to  culture. -Season  of  spawning.- 
Spawning  grounds -Appearance  of  the  sexes  at  spawning  time, 
habits  and  condition-Subsequent  recuperation. -Water-supply- 
Effect  of  the  temperature  of  water  on  the  time  of  hatching- 
Spring  water  necessary  for  incubation.  Series  of  Ponds.-Their 
shape-Method  of  shading  them.  /Jac.«;a^5-Their  construction. 
^Protection  of  them  from  muskrats. -Screens -Depth  and  size 
of  ponds-Transfer  of  fish  from  one  pond  to  another-Estimate  of 
number  of  trout  for  a  given  supply  of  water-Jeremiah  Comfort's 
ponds.-Stocking  ponds -Procuring  and  transporting  brood  trout. 

The  artificial  hatching  and  raising  of  fish,  as  I  have 
already  intimated,  has,  with  few  exceptions,  been  confined 
in  this  country  to  brook  trout.     These  are  not  only  fish  of 
the  rarest  beauty  and  most  delicate  flavor,  but  tbey  also 
command  the  highest  pr:ce  in  market  and  afford  the  great, 
est  sport  to  the  angler.     Moreover,  their  spawn  is  more 
easily  procured  and  can  be  hatched  in  a  manner  more  re- 
sembling that  of  nature,  than  the  ova  of  any  other  fresh- 

water  fish. 

The  season  of  spawning  with  trout  extends  from  the 
latter  part  of  October  to  the  middle  of  December;  and  m 
Bome  cases  where  the  water  does  not  freeze,  as  in  Caledonia 


■  spawning.' — 
awning  time, 
iter-supply. — 
)f  hatching.— 
fronds.— Their 
r  construction. 
)epth  and  size 
— Estimate  of 
liah  Comfort's 
12  brood  trout. 

h,  as  I  have 
leen  confined 
t  only  fish  of 
but  tbey  also 
brd  the  great- 
)awn  is  more 
nner  more  re- 
f  other  fresh- 

nda  from  the 
smber ;  and  in 
18  in  Caledonia 


w 


m 


TROUT  BREEDING. 


27 


creek,  in  New  York,  to  the  middle  of  March.*  When  they 
have  a  choice  of  spawning-grounds,  trout  will  seek  shallow 
water  of  gentle  current,  with  pebbly  bottom,  or  the  lower 
end  of  a  ripple  where  the  water  is  almost  still.  To  occupy 
such  places,  they  will  run  out  of  deeper  water  either  up  or 
down  stream,  leaping  over  an  obstructing  log,  or  wriggling 
through  water  half  the  depth  of  their  bodies,  the  males 
preceding   the   females  some  days.      At  this  season   the 


*  About  the  Ist  of  May  (of  this  year)  I  visited  Mr.  A.  J.  Beau- 
mont, near  New  Hope,  Pa.,  for  the  purpose  of  inaugurating  a  trout- 
breeding  establishment.     He  has  a  spring  which  supplies  the  power 
for  a  paper  and  grist  mill,  the  water  flowing  in  a  raceway  about 
five  hundred  yards   to  the  mill  site.      This  race  is  w611  stocked 
with  trout,  and  the  water  is  of  such  unvarying  temperature  that  the 
fish  know  no  summer  or  winter.     On  taking  a  few  fish  with  the  fly 
I  found  that  more  than  half  of  the  females  presented  the  slender 
body  and  peculiar  appearance  of  fish  that  had  lately  spawned.    When 
I  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Beaumont  he  informed  me  thf  t 
only  three  days  before,  while  cutting  water  cresses  at  the  spring,  his 
son  removed  a  stone  that  lay  at  a  sligh-:^  angle  with  the  bottom, 
and  found  beneath  it  a  large  number  of  trout  spawn.    On  examining 
the  ova  he  could  not  detect,  with  the  naked  eye,  any  formation  of 
the  young  fish.    The  conclusion  to  be  deduced  from  this  and  similar 
facts  wliich  have  come  under  my  observation,  is  that  the  more  equa- 
ble the  temperature  of  the  water,  the  longer  will  the  time  of  spawn- 
ing extend  into  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  that  trout  taken  from  cold 
forest  streams,  where  they  spawn  only  in  the  fall,  and  placed  in 
unvarying  spring  water  ponds,  will,  in  successive  generations,  breed 
later  and  later,  until  they  take  on  the  habit,  in  this  respect,  that 
prevails  with  the  trout  in  Mr.  Beaumont's  raceway  and  in  Caledonia 
creek. 


28 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


sexes  are  easily  distinguished,  the  males  putting  on  a  de- 
cidedly orange  tint,  their  fins  brilliantly  red,  with  the  first 
two  or  three  rays  of  the  ventrals  and  anal  vividly  white; 
while  the  females  are  of  a  sober  silver  gray.     Their  forms 
also  differ  at  spawning  time — the  males  deep-bodied,  slab- 
sided,  and  long-headed ;  the  females  with  the  usual  small 
head,   and  the  looked-for  rotundity  and  protuberance  of 
abdomen.     The  males  show  all  the  ardor  of  quadrupeds 
on  such  occasions,  and  in  their  contests  for  the  favors  of 
the  shy  spawners  the  result  is  sometimes  fatal.     I  have 
picked  up  males  at  the  outlet  of  my  pond  whose  scarred 
and  gashed  sides  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  cause  of  their 
death.     A  greater  part  of  the  time  of  the  male  is  occupied 
in  driving  off  rivals,  and  fish  that  wait  at  hand  to  devour 
the  eggs  as  they  are  dropped. 

A  male  may  have  milt  enough  for  several  females  of  his 
own  size,  consequently,  his  milting  extends  over  a  period 
of  a  week  or  ten  days ;  during  which  time  he  may  have 
two,  or  three  mates  in  succession.  A  female  when  she  is 
mated  and  her  spawn  matured,  deposits  it  all  in  c«  day  or 
two,  or  in  three  days  at  most;  if  her  mate  is  H  that 

his  milt  is  exhausted  before  she  is  done  spi.  .  '^he 

seeks  another  companion. 

As  the  time  for  spawning  approaches,  the  fish  fall  off  in 
flesh  and  flavor,  which  they  do  not  generally  regain  until 
late  in  the  following  spring.  When  they  have  access  to 
brackish  and  salt  water,  as  on  Long  Island,  where  they 
find  shrimp  and  small  fry,  this  may  be  in  March.  In  fresh- 
water ponds  where  there  is  much  feed,  as  the  larva  of  flies, 


TROUT  BREEDING.  29 

worms  on  certain  weeds,  and  minute  Crustacea,  or  when 
they  are  bountifully  fed,  they  are  edible  in  April.  In  the 
streams  of  the  forest  however,  they  are  seldom  in  season 
before  the  10th  of  May.  The  peculiar  habits,  appearance, 
and  condition  of  trout  at  spawning  time  can  be  observed  in 
clear  ponds  where  they  are  kept  for  breeding,  as  well,  or 
perhaps  better,  than  in  their  wild  haunts. 

Water  >S>^/^.— Spring  water,  whether  hard  or  soft,  if 
not  impregnated  to  any  great  extent  with  mineral,  is  best, 
not  only  for  hatching  but  also  for  supplying  ponds.     The' 
warmer  the  water  the  more  rapid  the  incubation,  though  a 
low  temperature  conduces  to  the  healthy  condition  of  the 
ova  during  this  process,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  young  fish 
until  the  umbilical  sac  is  absorbed,  as  it  is  not  fovorable  to 
the  growth  of  byssus  and  confervia.     In  proof  of  this  I 
would  instance  the  small  percentage  of  eggs  lost  in  incuba- 
t.o„  by  Mr.  Ainsworth;  though  much  of  his   success  in 
hatching  is  to  be  attributed  to  his  experience  in  expressing 
the  spawn  and  milt,  as  well  as  the  care  he  bestows  on  the 
ova  after  taking  them.     A  spring  with  a  deep  source  will 
-urnish  water  of  almost  unvarying  temperature,  and  will 
indicate  the  mean  of  the  atmosphere  in  its  locality      In  the 
neighborhood  of  Philadelphia,  this  is  about  51°  or  52° 
For  hatching,  the  water  should  never  be  above  51°  •  46° 
or  47°  is  perhaps  the  best  temperature.     Spring  water  is 
almost  indispensable  in  hatching,  as  few  or  no  brooks  are 
uniformly  clear,  or  have  not  more  or  less  dirt  or  vegetable 
hbre  carried  along  by  the  current. 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  beginner  has  a  spring  of 
3  * 


r 


I 


30 


FISH  CULTURE. 


certain  flow  for  hatching,  and  perhaps  a  cold  brook  which 
he  can  also  use  in  supplying  his  ponds.     He  will  therefore 
wish  to  know  the  size  his  ponds  should  be,  and  the  best 
form.     Before  I  give  any  directions  on  incubation  and  its 
appliances  I  will  treat  of  ponds,  remarking  by  the  way, 
that  if  one  uses  brook  water  to  increase  his  supply,  he 
should  not  introduce  it,  if  avoidable,  into  his  first  pond 
where  the  small  fry  are  kept,  and  should  make  some  con- 
trivance for  shutting  off  the  brook  or  confining  it  to  its  usual 
volume  in  time  of  heavy  rains.     He  should  do  this,  not 
only  that  he  may  keep  the  water  in  the  ^rst  pond  at  its 
usual  temperature,  but  also  to  prevent  dirt  from  being 
washed  in,  which  will  soon  foul  the  bottom  with  mud. 

The  plan  usually  pursued  with  those  who  raise  trout  as  a 
"  crop,"  is  to  have  a  series  of  ponds  connected  by  race- 
ways, the  latter  being  used  as  spawning-grounds  for  the 
fish.     At  least  three  ponds  are  required.     The  first  for  the 
young  fish  from  the  time  they  are  taken  from  the  hatching- 
trough  or  nursery,  until  they  attain  the  age  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  months.     The  second  pond  for  the  same  brood  for 
the  next  twelve  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  they  will 
be  thirty  or  thirty-two  months  old.     The  third  pond  for  the 
same  fish  from  the  age  last  mentioned,  until  they  are  three 
years  and  a  half  old.     From  the  last  pond  it  is  supposed 
they  are  to  be  taken  for  sale  or  the  proprietor's  table.     It 
will  be  observed,  that  when  the  last  pond  is  vacated  the 
trout  from  the  second  pond  will  occupy  it,  that  the  second 
will  be  occupied  by  the  fish  from  the  first,  and  the  first  pond 
by  the  new  brood  from  the  nursery. 


TROUT  BREEDING.  31 

It  requires  careful  forethought,  that  the  size  of  tho  ponds 
may  be  in  accordance  with  the  .v  ,)ply  and  temperature  of 
the  water.     The  cause  of  failure  in  most  cases  has  been 
where  persons  have  attempted  to  supply  large  ponds  with 
a  diminutive  stream ;  thus  exwsing  a  large  area  to  the  heat 
of  a  summer  atmosphere  and  the  rays  of  the  sun.     The 
shape  also  of  the  ponds  has  much  to  do  with  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water ;  an  oblong  is  preferable  to  a  circle ;  if 
the  width  of  the  pond  is  one-tenth  of  its  length,  so  much 
the  better,  as  the  water  passes  through  quicker,  and  retains 
its  coldness  to  a  greater  degree.     Trees,  though  they  may 
shade  and  serve  to  beautify,  cause  much  annoyance,  as  the 
leaves  falling  or  being  blown  into  the  water,  sink  and  accu- 
mulate on  the  bottom,  or  are  carried  by  the  current  against 
and  clog  the  wire  screens  which  are  placed  in  the  outlets 
to  keep  the  fish  in  the  ponds  allotted  to  them.     A  cheap 
and  efficient  method  of  diminishing  the  surface  exposed  to 
the  sun  is  with  floats  or  platforms  made  of  rough  boards, 
moored  in  the  ponds ;  these  also  make  an  acceptable  shade 
and  hiding-place  for  the  fish. 

The  race-ways,  which,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  are 
the  spawning  grounds  of  the  fish,  should  be  five  or  six 
inches  deep,  from  two  to  three  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and 
from  twenty  to  sixty  feet  long,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
ponds  and  the  supply  of  water.  The  bottoms  of  the  race- 
ways should  be  covered  to  the  depth  of  three  inches  or 
more  with  fine  gravel  for  the  trout  to  make  their  nests  in. 
The  sides  should  be  of  boards  an  inch  thick  and  twelve 
inches  wide.     If  the  slope  of  the  ground  is  such  that  there 


32 


FISH  CULTURE. 


I 


will  be  much  fall  between  the  ponds,  the  water  should  dis- 
charge at  each  outlet  into  a  box  or  pool,  and  flow  through 
the  race  below  in  a  gentle  current.  The  water  is  thus 
aerated  without  creating  a  rapid,  which  is  unfavorable  to  a 
spawning-ground.  When  ^e  supply  is  small,  the  water 
in  a  pond  may  back  half  way  up  the  race  which  feeds  it. 
At  the  end  of  each  raceway  strips  should  be  nailed  perpen- 
dicularly against  the  board  sides,  one  set  on  each  side  at 
the  entrance  into  the  pond,  and  another  set  three  or  four 
feet  above,  so  that  wire  gratings  can  be  slipped  in  to  secure 
the  spawners  when  they  are  driven  from  the  race  above. 

I  would  here  impress  on  the  beginner  the  necessity  of 
not  allowing  toe  rapid  a  stream  in  the  raceways,  or  having 
the  water  shallow,  or  gravel  in  the  ponds  where  they  enter. 
If  he  does,  the  trout  may  find  a  more  acceptable  spawning- 
place  in  the  upper  part  of  the  pond,  even  in  broad  sun- 
shine, than  in  the  covered  race  above ;  and  if  he  attempts 
to  secure  his  spawners  at  the  head  of  the  pond  with  a  seine, 
he  will  frighten  back  into  deep  water  those  that  might, 
perhaps,  enter  the  raceway. 

If  the  sides  of  the  raceways  are  lined  with  boards,  it 
will  not  only  secure  them  from  the  effects  of  frost  and 
prevent  dirt  from  falling  in,  but  will  also  be  a  protection 
against  muskrats.  A  hundred  feet  of  hemlock  or  third 
quality  pine  will  cost  but  a  trifle,  and  will  line  a  raceway 
fifty  feet  long.  This  is  also  the  most  eff"ectual  way  of  pro- 
tecting the  sides  of  ponds  from  these  pests.  On  perfectly 
level  ground,  however,  if  the  water  comes  within  a  few 
inches  or  a  foot  of  the  top  of  the  bank,  there  is  no  harbor 


TROUT  BREEDING.  33 

for  them,  as  they  burrow  under  water  only  where  the  bank 
is  high  enough  above  it  to  allow  them  room  for  their  nests. 
In  severe  weather,  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow, 
muskrats  are  driven  by  hunger  to  feed  on  grass,  which  may 
even  then  be  found  on  the  margin  of  spring  water,  or  they 
may  come  into  it  for  the  warmth  it  aflFords.     When  they 
nib  the  grass,  much  of  it  is  set  adrift  and  clogs  the  wire 
screens,  at  least  I  have  found  it  so  in  my  experience.     On 
this  account  it  would  be  well  to  have  the  margin  of  the 
raceways  and  ponds  gravelled.     A  great  inconvenience  is 
experienced  in  keeping  the  screens  at  the  outlets  from  be- 
coming  clogged  with  leaves  and  floating  trash.    There  should 
therefore  be  a  coarser  screen  to  act  as  a  leaf  catcher,  placed 
before  each  of  those  intended  to  keep  the  fish  in  their 
respective  ponds.     Seth  Green,  at  Caledonia  creek,  that  he 
may  prevent  the  fish  in  his  ponds  from  running  up  into  the 
mill-pond  that  supplies  them,  has  a  water-wheel  turned  by 
the  current  at  the  head  of  the  raceway,  the  edges  of  the 
buckets  or  paddles  coming  so  close  to  the  concavity  of  the 
frame  in  which  it  revolves,  as  to  keep  the  fish  from  ascend- 
ing, while  those   from  above  can  descend   between  the 
buckets.      Floating  grass  and  leaves   also   pass  without 
obstruction.     This  contrivance,  however,  although  it  will 
keep  the  large  fish  in  the  last  pond,  will  not  prevent  those 
of  pond  No.  1  from  tunning  down  into  No.  2,  and  the  fish 
of  both  from  getting  into  pond  No.  3,  where  the  yearlings 
would  be  devoured. 

Pond  No.  1  being  for  the  small  fry,  from  the  time  they 
leave  the  hatching-troughs  or  nursery,  until  they  are  some- 

0 


IHiit 


:||ii 


. 


!     t    <l! 


34 


FISH  OULTURE. 


thing  over  eighteen  months  old,  the  water  in  it  should  not 
be  more  than  six  inches  deep  at  the  upper,  and  two  feet 
deep  at  the  lower  end.  Young  trout  delight  in  shallow 
water,  and  will  therefore  be  found  mostly  where  the  race- 
way enters  ;  as  they  grow  larger  they  will  seek  the  deeper 
water  at  che  lower  end  of  the  pond.  The  bottom  of  this 
pond  should  be  covered  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  inches 

with  coarse  gravel. 

Pond  No.  2.— The  fish,  when  they  are  old  enough  to 
enter  this  pond,  will  require  deeper  water  and  more  room. 
It  may  therefore  be  a  third  or  a  half  longer,  two  or  three 
feet  wider,  and  have  an  average  depth  of  three  feet ;  thus 
containing  four  or  five  times  as  many  cubic  feet  of  water  as 
pond  No.  1.     The  depth  may  be  more  uniform  ;  care  being 
taken  to  have  a  good  depth  and  no  gravel  where  the  race 
enters,  so  as  to  offer  no  inducement  for  the  fish  to  spawn 
in  the  pond.     The  trout,  spawning  for  the  first  time  a  few 
months  after  entering  this  pond,  and  being  still  small,  and 
giving  not  over  three  hundred  eggs  to  each  spawner,  it  is 
not  requisite  that  the  raceway  supplying  it  should  be  as 
long  or  as  wide  as  that  leading  into  the  next  pond  below. 

Pond  No.  3  should  contain  double  or  three  times  the 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  water  of  the  preceding,  and  have 
an  average  depth  of  five  feet.  This,  as  well  as  the  other 
ponds,  if  it  can  be  so  arranged,  should  have  a  flume  in  the 
bottom,  so  that  it  can  be  entirely  drained  if  sufficient  mud 
should  accumulate  to  make  it  desirable.  The  fish  entering 
this  pond  when  somewhat  over  two  and  a  half  years  old, 
will  give  double  or  thrice  as  many  ova  as  they  did  the  pre- 


TROUT  BREEDING.  35 

ceding  autumn.     On  recovering  condition   the  following 
spring  they  will  average  about  a  pound,  and  are  then  fit  for 
the  market  or  one's  own  use.     If  any  are  left  they  will 
likely  prey  on  the  smaller  of  those  from  poad  No.  2  when 
,    transferred  to  this.    For  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  some 
are  of  slow  growth  from  the  egg,  and  will  not  be  half  the 
size  of  others  of  the  same  age  when  driven  into  this  pond, 
or  one-fourth  the  size  of  some  a  year  older  that  may  remain 
in  it.     It  is  therefore  better  to  clear  it  of  all  its  occupants 
before  those  from  No.  2  are  admitted,  as  it  is  not  safe  to 
calculate  that  trout  of  a  pound,  or  it  may  be  a  pound  and  a 
quarter,  will  not  swallow  those  of  four  ounces;  I  have  bad 
ocular  proof  that  they  will.     How  many  of  the  latter  size 
were  devoured  by  the  larger  at  night,  or  when  I  was  not 
observing  them,  it  is  hard  to  tell.    If,  therefore,  one  should 
wish  to  keep  trout  beyond  the  age  of  three  and  a  half  years, 
it  would  be  better  to  have  a  fourth  pond  and  transfer  them' 
to  It.     The  water  having  answered  the  purpose  of  hatch- 
ing and  supplying  the  stock  ponds,  where  the  fish  are,  I 
might  say,  stall  fed,  may  now  be  used  for  a  miniature  lake'if 
not  too  large,  where  the  fish  would  find  their  own  feed,  and 
where   the  owner  might  indulge   his  taste  for  the  pic- 
turesque  and  have  a  fly  cast  for  himself  and  friends. 

The  proper  time  for  transferring  the  fish  from  one  pond 
to  another  is  the  latter  part  of  August.  Pond  No.  3  as  I 
have  already  remarked,  by  that  tiu.e  will  have  been  vacated 
and  can  be  occupied  by  those  from  No.  2 ;  pond  No  2  by 
those  from  No.  1 ;  and  No.  1  by  the  new  brood  from  the 
nursery.     Allor  the  Ist  of  September  trout  should  not  be 


36 


FISH  CULTURE. 


eaten ,  as  they  are  then  getting  out  of  season.  If  transferred 
about  this  time  or  a  little  earlier  they  are  not  so  heavy  with 
spawn  as  to  be  affected  by  change  of  habitat,  and  will  be- 
come accustomed  to  their  new  home  by  spawning  time. 

In  the  proportions  I  have  given  for  ponds,  the  fish  are 
more  under  the  control  of  the  owner  and  can  be  fed  with 
greater  certainty  and  regularity  than  in  those  which  ap- 
proach a  square  or  circle  in  shape,  and  the  ponds  can  be 
easily  dragged  with  a  seine  so  as  to  secure  every  fish  if 
necessary  to  clear  it. 

As  the  fish  in  pond  No.  1  do  not  spawn  at  the  age  they 
inhabit  it,  a  raceway  with  the  requisites  for  breeding  is 
not  necessary.     The  water  should  be  led  in  through  two 
or  more  shallow  rills  from  a  foot  to  two  or  three  feet  wide, 
according  to  the  supply.     If  bulkheads  made  by  setting 
narrow  boards  edgewise,  put  out  from  each  side  alternately, 
nearly  to  the  middle  of  the  rills,  they  will  create  a  zigzag 
current  and  form  eddies  for  the  fry.    These  bulkheads  may 
be  set  from  four  to  eight  feet  apart,  the  distance  apart  being 
proportioned  to  the  length  of  the  races.    The  bottom  of  the 
race,  though,  should  also  be  covered  with  gravel. 

This  question  of  course  will  present  itself  to  the  reader : 
How  many  trout  will  a  supply  of  given  volume  and  tempera- 
ture keep  in  healthy  condition  ?  In  reply,  T  will  cite  a  case 
on  which  I  have  in  a  great  degree  based  my  estimate;  I 
have  already  referred  to  it  in  "  The  American  Anglers' 
IJook."— Owen  Desh,  at  Ilollortown,  Penna.,  has  a  spring  in 
his  garden,  the  temperature  of  which  we  will  suppose  to  be 
51°,  and  the  volume  one  and  a  half  inches  square;  it  flows 


TROUT  BREEDING.  37 

through  a  trough  about  twenty-four  feet  long  and  two  feet 
wide,  at  a  depth  of  eighteen  inches,  which  gives  seventy- 
two  cubic  feet  of  water.     His  usual  supply  of  trout  in  it 
is,  or  was,  eight  hundred,  although  at  times  he  has  kept 
twelve  hundred,  varying  in  size  from  nine  to  thirteen  inches. 
If  we  take  seven  hundred  and  twenty  fish  as  the  minimum, 
it  gives  ten  trout  to  each  cubic  foot.     These  trout  were 
kept  in  thriving  condition  on  one  or  two  quarts  of  curd  fed 
to  them  on  alternate  days,  and  not  over  a  dozen  died  during 
the  summer.     If  the  reader  takes  this  as  a  basis  he  can 
make  his  own  calculations,  remembering  that  it  is  not  the 
quantity  of  water  a  fish  haa  to  live  in,  so  much  as  its  life- 
giving  qualities.     If  Mr.  Desh's  supply  had  been  spread 
out  over  an  acre  at  a  depth  of  three  feet  and  exposed  to 
the  rays  of  the  sun  and  a  summer  atmosphere,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  water  would  have  been  sufficiently  oxygenated 
to  sustain  trout  at  all.    Therefore,  if  trout  are  to  be  grown 
as  a  crop,  the  fish  culturist  should  be  careful  how  he  in- 
dulges  his  fancy  for  the  ornate  in  making  his  ponds.     It 
would  be  practicable  for  any  farmer  having  a  spring  of  low 
summer  temperature,  flowing  a  full  square  inch,  to\ave  a 
series  of  three  small  ponds,  to  keep  fifteen  hundred  year- 
bngs  in  the  first,  a  thousand  two  year  old  in  the  second, 
and  six  or  seven  hundred  three  year  old  in  the  third. 

My  friend  Jeremiah  Comfort,  near  Spring  Mills,  on  the 
Nornstown  Railroad,  has  a  supply  of  sixteen  square  inches 
(not  sixteen  inches  square).     In  laying  oflf  his  ponds  last 
fall  I  gave  the  sizes  as  follows :  Pond  No.  1 ;  sixty  feet  long 
eight  feet  wide,  four  inches  of  water  at  the  upper,  and 


3g  FISH  CULTURE, 

twenty  inches  at  the  lower  end,  contents,  four  hundred  and 
eighty  cubic  feet,  to  sustain  nine  thousand  six  hundred 
young  fry,  or  twenty  to  each  cubic  foot  of  water,  from  the 
time  they  leave  the  nursury  until  they  are  eighteen  or 
twenty  months  old.     Pond  No  2;  thinking  that  the  water 
would  increase  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  degrees  in  tern- 
perature  in  passing  through  pond  No.  1,  we  estimated  that 
a  cubic  foot  in  this  would  sustain  three  trout  from  the  time 
they  were  twenty  until  they  were  thirty-two  months  old, 
and  allowing  for  loss  or  sales,  reduced  the  estimated  number 
for  this  to  eight  thousand  one  hundred.     We  accordingly 
laid  it  off  ninety  feet  long,  ton  feet  wide,  and  intond  filling 
it  to  the  average  depth  of  three  feet,  which  gives  twenty- 
seven  hundred  cubic  feet  as  its  contents,  and  three  fish  to 
each  cubic  foot.     Pond  No.  3 ;  assuming  that  the  summer 
temperature  of  the  water  in  this  would  seldom  rise  above 
66°  or  58°,  we  thought  that  a  cubic  foot  would  sustain  one 
trout,  and  again  making  allowance  for  losses  or  sales,  reduced 
the  estimated  number  to  six  thousand  four  hundred  and 
eighty,  and  so  staked  off  the  pond  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  long,  twelve  feet  wide,  and  allowed  for  an  average  depth 
of  four  and  a  half  feet.     I  would  here  remark  that  Mr. 
Comfort  has  a  spring  branch  rising  three  hundred  yards 
away,  flowing  at  right  angles  and  joining  that  already  des- 
cribed, the  supply  being  double  of  that  just  given.     This 
he  intends  using  as  accessory  in  filling  his  third  pond.    The 
united  streams  flow  also  through  an  ice  pond  below,  which 
he  will  stock  with  trout. 

If  one  is  desirous  of  having  ponds  of  the  largest  capacit;^ 


39 


TROUT  BREEDING, 
a  diminutive  stream  will  supply,  he  should  deepen  them 
rather  than  increase  the  area.  The  deeper  the  water  the 
cooler  it  will  be  at  the  bottom  in  summer  and  the  warmer 
in  winter. 

Stocking.Ponds.~ThQ  best  time  to  procure  brood  trout, 
of  course,  is  when  the  streams  are  low,  and  the  nearer' 
the  time  of  spawning  the  more  easily  they  are  captured. 
If  on  the  spawn-beds,  this  is  easily  done  in  the  small  streams 
they  generally  seek  for  that  purpose.      Last  November  I 
was  present  when  P.  H.  Christie,  at  the  head  of  Fishkill 
creek,  in  Dutchess  county,  New  York,  with  only  one  assist- 
ant,  took  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  an  hour  and  a  half- 
we  manipulated  those  that  were  ready  to  spawn  the  same 
afternoon,  and  got  five  thousand  eggs  from  them.      Two 
weeks  before,  Mr.  Christie,  in  .roing  over  the  same  length 
of  the  stream,  had  taken  four  hundred  before  noon.     The 
best  kind  of  net  for  the  purpose,  is  what  is  termed  a  set  or 
stir-net.     It  has  a  straight  strip  about  four  feet  long  which 
reste  on  the  bottom,  and  a  bow  of  ash  or  white  oak  the 
ends  being  inserted  in  the  strip.     The  bag  of  the  net  should 
be  of  coarse  gunny  cloth,  to  avoid  injuring  the  gills  of  the 
fish,  as  they  are  apt  to  stick  their  heads  through  the  meshes 
of  the  ordinary  net,  and  so  injure  themselves  in  that  vital 
part.     If  taken  with  artificial  flies  of  moderate  size,  they 
are  seldom  hooked  so  as  to  injure  them. 

Transporting  Adult  Trout.-A  barrel  is  a  good  im 
promptu  vessel  for  this  purpose;  a  piece  four  or  five  inches 
square  beu.g  sawed  out  of  the  head,  and  a  strip  nailed 
across  the  piece,  so  that  it  can  be  replaced  without  a  chance 


40  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE, 

of  its  falling  in;  large  gimlet  holes  are  also  to  be  bored  in 
it,  so  as  to  afford  air  to  the  fish  when  it  is  in  its  place. 
The  water  should  be  renewed  as  opportunity  offers,  and  the 
state  of  the  weather  demands,  and  may  be  oxygenated  by 
dipping  som.  ont  and  pouring  it  back,  elevating  the  vessel 
from  vv-v    '  '*  is  poured  as  much  as  possible  for  that  pur- 
pose.    \        .aal  place  for  a  barrel  when  sc  used  in  carry- 
ing trout  by  railroad,  is  the  baggage  car,  and  as  the  barrel 
is  necessarily  wet  outside  from  jolting  (and  the  more  joltmg 
it  gets  the  better),  it  should  be  set  near  the  side  door  of 
the  car,  where  there  is  a  draft  of  air,  which  tends  largely 
to  keep  the  water  inside  cool.      In  moderate  weather  m 
June,  I  have  thus  taken  a  hundred  and  fifty  trout  in  a  forty 
gallon  barrel  two-thirds  full  of  water,  sixty  miles  without  re- 
plenishing  it.   When  ice  can  be  had,  a  piece  may  be  dropped 
in  occasionally  to  keep  the  water  cool.     Too  great  a  degree 
of  cold,  however,  is  injurious.     I  have  had  trout  to  die  in 
my  ponds  some  days  after  transporting  them  as  I  thought 
safely,  from  the  effects  of  what  I  considered  too  lavish  a 
supply  of  ice.      Pump  water  should  never  be   used  in 
replenishing  j  I  have  seen  fifty  trout  turn  on  their  sides  as 
soon  as  it  was  poured  into  a  barrel.     A  bellows  may  be  used 
for  aerating  the  water,  by  inserting  the  nozzle  the  whole 
depth  and  blowing.     A  zinc  vessel  on  this  principle  is  used 
in  England,  the  air  being  pumped  through  a  tube  opening 
into  the  bottom  of  the  vessel.      The  same  principle  was 
applied,  though  differently  arranged,  by  Barnum,at  his  old 
Museum,  for  aerating  the  water  in  the  aquaria  in  which 
he  kept  trout.     When  taking  them  in  a  wagon,  the  barrel 


bored  in 
its  place. 
J,  and  the 
enated  by 
the  v£S8el 

that  pur- 

I  in  carry- 
the  barrel 
)re  jolting 
le  door  of 
ds  largely 
Feather  in 
i  in  a  forty 
without  re- 
be  dropped 
it  a  degree 
it  to  die  in 

I I  thought 
)o  lavish  a 
e   used  in 
eir  sides  as 
aay  be  used 
!  the  whole 
iiple  is  used 
ibe  opening 
inciple  was 
n,  at  his  old 
ia  in  which 
1,  the  barrel 


TROUT  BREEDING,  41 

or  vessel  should  be  rocked  to  and  fro,  while  stopping, 
so  as  to  oxygenate  the  water.     For  a  small  number  of 
fish  a  bucket  or  pail  can  be  used.     Mr.  Christie  uses  ordi- 
nary  milk  cans  holding  about  twenty  gallons  in  transporting 
trout  in  a  wagon,  carrying  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  in  a  can. 
When  trout  cannot  be  procured  for  stocking  ponds,  and 
one  is  willing  to  wait  a  few  years,  much  trouble  and  expense 
can  be  saved  by  hatching  the  spawn.    This  can  be  procured 
at  about  ten  dollars  per  thousand  of  Seth  Green,  Mumford, 
Monroe  County,  New  York;  or  of  Stephen  H.  Ainsworth, 
West  Bloomfield,  New  Yorkj  or  P.    H.  Christie,  Clove,' 
Dutchess  County,  New  York;  or  Dr.  J.  H.  Slack,  whose' 
post-office  is  Bethlehem,  Hunterdon  County,  New  Jersey. 


I  I 


t 


42 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TROUT  BREEDING. 
IN'CUBATIOX.   AND   TREATMENT   OF    FRY. 

Hatching  apparatus.— French  and  American  plans.— Supply  of 
water  for  a  given  number  of  eggs.     ^aic/an^r-Aousc— Illustration 
with  explanations.— Filterer.— Troughs.— Nursery.— Management 
of  filterer.— Washing  gravel  for  troughs.— Implements.     Taking 
the  spawn.— Action  of  the  female  when  about  to  spawn. — Method 
of  catching  the  fish  on  the  spawning-beds.— Indications  of  the  ma- 
turity of  the  eggs.— Manipulation.— Placing  the  ova  in  the  troughs. 
— Packing  and  transportation  of  eggs. — Manner  of  taking  a  large 
number  of  eggs  for  transportation  from  a  trough. — How  to  examine 
them.— Illustration  with  explanations  of  the  appearance  of  ova  at 
different  stages  during  incubation. — Table  showing  progress  of  incu- 
bation with  water  at  different  degrees  of  temperature.— Hatching 
out  and  progress  in  growth  and  activity  of  fry.     Treatment  of  fry. 
— Their  food,  and  manner  of  feeding  them. — Their  disposition  to 
escape. — Transferring  them  to  the  nurseries. — Their  admission  into 
the  first  pond. — Transportafion  of  fry. 

HatcMng  Apparatus. — Since  the  early  experiments  of 
Remy,  a  great  many  improvements  have  been  made  in 
hatching  fish  spawn.  At  Huningue,  trays  or  troughs  of 
earthenware  about  twenty-five  inches  long,  five  inches  wide, 
and  four  inches  deep,  are  used.  The  eggs  are  placed  on 
a  grille.,  made  by  arranging  small  parallel  crostt-bars  in  a 
wooden  frame,  which  rests  on  projections  on  each  side  of 
the  tray,  u  little  below  the  surface  of  the  water.     The  bars 


43 


TROUT  BREEDING, 
of  the  grille  are  near  enough  together  to  hold  the  eggs- 
i.h,le  anj  floating  dirt  falls  between  to  the  bottom  of  the 
tray  and  ean  be  removed  by  drawing  the  water  off  through 
a  hole  whieh  ia  kept  eorked  at  one  end  iu  the  bottom. 
The  young  &h,  ,.  they  are  hatched  out,  abo  drop  between 
the  ba,^,  and  are  removed  through  the  same  aperture  and 
placed  .n  other  troughs  or  apartments.     These  trays  ean 
even  be        ,b,d  and  replaeed,  by  moving  the  grille  (whieh 
my  safely  be  done  after  the  young  fish  are  developed  in 
the  ova)  to  a  spare  tray  kept  for  the  purpose.     The  trays 
are  placed  .„  shallow  vessels  or  cisterns,  elevated  to  the 
height  of  a  man's  waist;  each  cistern,  which  is  thirty  or 
forty  feet  long,  containing  a  proportionate  numberof  tray.,. 
It  .s  not  deemed  advisable,  however,  that  a  jet  of  waL 
from  the  supply  pipes  should  flow  through  more  than  si. 

Another  mode  in  Fmnce,  is  to  have  a  series  of  troughs 

arranged    ke  steps,  one  slightly  above  the  other,  as  shown 

n  .ll^trafon  at  end  of  next  chapter.     The  w  ter  pour- 

-8   through  a  hole  in  a  little  jet   at  one   end  of   the 
upper  trough,   and  running  the  length  of  that  below 
<l.achargea  .n  the  same  way,  and  runs  the  length  of    he 
--rough.     This  plan  has  the  advantage  of  aLi 
watery  .t  enters  each,  and  ean  be  placed  in  any  fparo 
room  of  proper  temperature  in  one's  dwelling 

In  th,s  country  a  much  more  simple,  though  not  as  effec- 
tual, mode  of  getting  rid  of  sed;m„n.  J  ""enec- 
erowth  „f  1.  •  '''''"''«'"  and  suppressing  the 
growth  of  byssus  ,s  pursued.  A  wooden  trough,  twelve  or 
fifteen  .uehes  wide,  and  four  inches  deep,  is  diiided  into 


44 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTUKB. 


nests  or  apartments  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  inches  long, 
by   placing   strips   across;    over  these  strips  the   water 
flows  in  a  slight  ripple,  and  the  force  of  the  current  is 
thereby  broken.      The  bottom  of  the  trough  is  covered 
with  clean  gravel,  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  so,  to  receive 
the  eggs,  over  which  the  water,  an  inch  deep,  flows  in  a 
gentle  current.     This  plan  has  generally  been  discarded  in 
France,  but  here,  by  using  pure  spring  water  after  passing 
it  through  three  or  four  flannel  screens  and  a  small  h(?ap 
of  fine  gravel,  it  is  perhaps  as  efficacious  as  the  French 
mode.     Our  largest  fish  culturist,  Seth  Green,  has  by  these 
simple  means  hatched  out  ninety  per  cent.,  and  Stephen 
H.  Ainsworth  as  high  as  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  ova. 
In  my  first  experiment,  which  was  with  filtered  Schuylkill 
water,  a  thousand  eggs  produced  nearly  seven  hundred  fish. 
A  floating  box  for  hatching  is  also  us  d.     It  is  made  of 
boards  generally  a  half  inch  thick  j  the  bottom  is  covered 
with  fine  wire  gauze,  which  should  be  painted  ;  on  this  the 
eggs  are  distributed.     If  the  box  does  not  set  deep  enough 
to  allow  the  water  to  cover  the  eggs  an  inch  or  an  inch  and 
a  half,  sufficic.  *  weight  should  be  placed  on  the  cover  to 
sink  it  to  that  depth.     If  the  bottom  of  the  box  is  made  of 
boards  and  gravel  strewed  over  it,  two  or  three  rows  of 
largd  gimlet  holes  should  be  bored  in  each  end  below  the 
water  line.     These  boxes  are  usually  two  feet  long,  eighteen 
inches  wide,  and  about  six  inches  deep,  and  are  tied  to  a 
strip  extending  across  the  raceway  and  allowed  to  float  in 
the  current.     A  box  of  this  kind  can  also  be  placed  in  a 
spring,  its  size  corresponding  with  the  area.     I3y  this  mode 


TROUT  BREEDING.  45 

Of  hatching,  the  advantage  of  filtration  must  be  dispensed 
with.  The  first  essay  of  P.  H.  Christie  in  hatching,  was 
by  depositing  the  eggs  on  gravel  in  the  bottom  of  a  corn- 
popper,  and  placing  it  on  a  stone  in  his  spring.  I  mention 
this  to  show  how  simple  a  thing  the  hatching  of  trout  spawn 
can  be  made. 

Many  persons  in  France  and  England,  for  amusement,  or 
the  novelty  of  the  thing,  have  miniature  hatching  appara. 
tus  in  their  house..     Any  spare  room  where  the  thermome- 
ter  does  not  mark  over  55°  will  answer,  and  the  smallest 
dribble  from  a  tenk  of  twenty  to  a  hundred  gallons  can  be 
used.     No  class  of  our  countrymen  are  more  favorably 
situated  for  hatching  trout  spawn  thau  farmers.     Many  of 
them  bring  the  water  into  their  houses  from  springs  of 
greater  elevation ;  and,  without  occupying  much  space,  and 
by  incurring  but  slight  expense,  might  hatch  thousands  of 
ova  to  stock  streams  and  ponds  on  their  own  premises,  or 
to  supply  waters  in  their  neighborhood. 

I  have  already  remarked,  that  success  in  hatchin  ■  de- 
pends much  on  the  purity  of  the  water,  and  even  the 
purest  must  be  filtered.     As  to  the  quantity  for  a  given 
number  of  egg.;  a  square  inch  divided  into  four  jets  and 
flowing  through  the  same  number  of  troughs,  will  suffice 
for  three  or  four  hundred  thousand;  but  double  or  even 
four  times  the  supply  will  be  required  to  sustain  the  same 
number  of  young  fish  for  any  great  length  of  time  in  the 
nursery.     An  additional  supply  must  therefore  be  provided 
for  the  fry  after  they  have  absorbed  the  umbilical  sac,  say 
a  square  inch  to  each  hundred  thousand. 


46 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


It  is  better  for  many  reasons,  that  the  supply  should 
flow  through  earthen  pipes  or  glazed  tile ;  there  is  some 
risk  in  conducting  it  through  leaden  pipe,  as  the  action  of 
certain  limestone  waters  on  lead  is  injurious,  unless  the 
pipe  is  coated  with  zinc. 

Although  a  trough  for  hatching  a  few  thousand  eggs 
may  be  placed  in  the  open  air  if  kept  covered,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  a  number  of  them  should  be  under  the  cover  of  a 
building  of  some  kind,  that  the  ova  may  be  protected  from 
the  weather  and  the  depredations  of  rats  and  other  animals 
that  would  eat  them,  as  well  as  for  the  comfort  of  those 
who  attend  to  them.     A  house  of  rough  boards  will  answer 
the  purpose.     A  stove  is  not  necessary  in  the  hatching- 
house  unless  the  water  is  very  cold.     Where  the  water  is 
as  high  as  48°  or  50°  the  temperature  of  the  air  inside  of 
a  close  board  house  will  be  almost  the  same,  and  comfort- 
ably warm.     The  windows,  or  the  greater  number  of  them, 
should  be  on  the  north  side,  if  it  can  be  so  arranged,  so 
as  to  admit  the  light  with  as  little  sunshine  as  possible.     In 
a  length  of  forty-eight  feet,  three  windows  are  enough,  the 
^panes  may  be  eight  by  ten  iiches,  and  the  sash  two  panes 
high  and  four  panes  wide,  and  may  slide  horizontally  in 
opening  them.      Each  window  should  have  a  curtain  or 
sliding  shutter  to  exclude  the  light  when  it  is   deemed 
expedient  to  do  so. 

On  the  opposite  page  is  a  ground  plan  for  a  hatching 
house.     Scale,  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  to  the  foot. 

A  is  the  filterer,  four  feet  long,  two  feet  wide,  and 
eighteen  inches  deep.     The  three  transverse  lines  repre- 


TROUT  BREEDING. 


47 


48 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


fl! 


I 


i 


sent  the  flannel  screens ;  if  there  were  four  it  would  be 
better.  The  water  entering  the  first  apartment  on  the 
right,  passes  through  the  screens  and  flows  into  the  dis- 
tributing trough  B,  which  by  four  jets  supplies  the  troughs 
c  c  c  c. 

The  troughs  are  thirty-two  feet  long,  fourteen  inches 
wide,  and  four  inches  deep,  inside  measurement.  Each 
trough  is  divided  into  twenty  nests  eighteen  inches  long, 
besides  having  an  apartment  two  feet  long  at  the  upper 
end,  which  is  filled  with  fine  gravel,  through  which  the 
water  is  again  filtered  as  it  passes  into  each  trough.  F  is  a 
gravelled  walk  two  feet  wide.  .There  should  also  be  a  grav- 
elled space  of  the  same  width  between  the  troughs  and  the 
sides  of  the  building. 

D  D  are  the  nurseries,  three  feet  wide,  and  half  the 
length  of  the  hatching-troughs.  The  lines  which  extend 
alternately  from  each  side  beyond  to  the  middle,  represent 
small  bulkheads  or  strips,  so  placed  for  the  purpose  of 
breaking  the  force  of  the  current  when  an  additional  supply 
of  water  is  let  in  for  the  young  fish,  and  to  form  eddies 
where  they  find  shelter  from  its  force  if  they  require  it. 
The  latter  is  an  improvement  of  the  Rev.  Livingston  Stone, 
of  Charleston,  New  Hampshire,  and  was  suggested  for  this 
book  by  Theodore  Lyman,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Massachusetts 
Commissioners  of  Fisheries.  The  bottoms  of  the  nurseries 
should  be  of  boards,  and  should  be  gravelled.  The  depth 
should  not  be  much,  if  any,  over  an  inch  at  the  upper  end, 
and  four  inches  at  the  lower  end.  E  is  a  channel  loading 
from  the  nurseries  into  the  first  pond. 


TROUT  BREEDING.  ^ 

°  e„gs.     By  increasing  the  supply  of  water  and 
eogthening  the  distributing  trough,  t  J"v,„  ^^J^t 
honal  hatehing-tronghs  can  be  used. 

The  sereons  of  the  filterer  are  made  by  stretehing  and 
^*ng  Ban  e,  U.  frames,  which  are  shp^d  into  gfooTe 
-ade  by  naihng  strips  on  the  insides  of  the  filterer  either 
jerpendicuMy  or  at  an  angie  inciiuing  towards  tb  'J    J 
The  Sannel  on  the  screen   nearest  the  entrance  of  t  e 
«pp.y,  shoul    be  of  stout  but  open  fabric-  the  second     o 

irid  rT'"^'"'™'' ""'■''■»  ^"-•■-'-? 

w  ^r,  to  all  appearances,  in  which  one  cannot  detect  the 
-ost  minute  particle,  wii,.  i„  the  c„u.e  of  four  or  five  day 
or  .  week,  so  ciog  the  screens  as  almost  U.  stop  the  flow 
At  .nervals  of  a  few  days  the  screens  should  cherefo,e  To 

hpped  out  and  a  dean  set  put  in.     The  flannel  is  c^  nsej 
b.  aliowing  it  to  dry,  and  then  brushing  the  dust  o;  ^  h 

stiff  r  r:'  z  '""^^'  '^ """»« '-^ — -•* » 

t     '"'"••''■■'"'''  "'■'I'  -"^t-     The  filterer  and  supply  trouirh 
should  both  be  kept  covered.  ^        *> 

There  should  not  be  more  than  two  inches  fall  from  the 
upper  U.  the  lower  end  of  a  trough  of  tbirty-two  fee  Tf  tto 
aperture  though  which  the  water  enters'is  a  hjf  in  b 
«q..ar.     If  the  supply  be  doubled,  the  fall  should  not  be 
more  than  an   nch.     This  irill  „;„»       •     ,     . 
e  uth  of  an  i„„h  deep  over  the  strips  dividing  the  trough 
."to  nes^.     The  bottom  of  the  trough  should  be  per  ety 
true,  and  the  strips  fit  neatly,  so  that  the  water  may  no^ 


liii'i 


60  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

flow  beneath  but  over  the  top  of  the  strips.  The  strips 
should  also  be  exactly  the  same  width,  so  that  the  ripples 
over  them  may  be  uniform.  They  should  be  made  of  half- 
inch  pine,  and  should  slip  out  or  in  ao  that  they  can  be 
removed  at  one's  option.  The  gravel  should  be  about  the 
sire  of  peas,  and  if  possible  of  some  uniformly  dark  tint, 
that  the  eggs  lying  on  it  may  be  the  more  easily  examined 
It  should  be  thoroughly  washed,  by  shaking  and  turning  it 
in  a  basket  in  clear  running  water,  and  again,  by  stirring 
it  after  placing  it  in  the  hatching-trough,  commencing  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  trough  and  stirring  it  in  each  suc- 
cessive nest  until  the  water  runs  clear.  Mr.  Ainsworth  is 
so  careful  as  to  boil  the  gravel,  that  he  may  destroy  the 
eggs  or  larvae  of  insects  that  may  possibly  remain  after  the 
gravel  is  merely  washed.  When  there  is  sufl&cient  fall 
i"»;om  the  spring  to  admit  of  it,  it  is  better  to  have  the 
hatching-troughs  elevated  about  three  feet,  so  as  to  allow 
of  an  easier  examination  of  the  eggs,  as  it  is  no  small  labor 
to  attend  to  them  on  the  ground  if  one  has  four  troughs  to 
go  over  daily  during  the  incubation. 

A  few  simple  instruments  are  required  by  the  flsh  cul- 
turist.  For  examining  the  eggs  i  small  vial,  two  or  three 
inches  long  and  a  half-inch  in  diameter,  is  used.  The  eggs 
are  taken  up  with  a  small  pair  of  pliers  and  dropped  into 
the  vial  nearly  filled  with  water,  which,  after  replacing  the 
cork,  is  held  horizontally  before  the  light  and  turned  so  as 
to  present  different  views  of  the  eggs.  The  pliers  can  be 
made  either  of  single  or  double  wire;  if  of  the  latter,  a  small 
bowl  can  be  formed  at  the  end  of  each  prong  by  bending 


TKOHT  BBEEDINS.  5, 

the  wire  into  the  required  'shape  tor  olaaping  the  egg.    My 

fnend  Chnst.e,  of  Dutche.  eount,,  New  Yort,  "with  a 

ttle  m,tru„.ent  made  by  bending  a  thin  bras,  wire  into 

T0I7I     r'""'""'  '""""  ""<'  '-•"-^  "  '— " 
wooden  handle,  removes  the  addled  ova  from  his  troughs 

he  says,  three  times  as  fast  as  he  can  with  pliers.    For  dip! 

p.og  up  young  fish  in  the  troughs,  a  small  net  is  made  by 

bend,„       3t„ut  pieee  of  wire  into  the  shape  of  the  letter  D 
for  the  f,,,,  ,^    ^„,^  „^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^_^^^  ^^_^^^ 

on  the    onve.  s.de  for  the  handle.     The  material  u^d  is 

„  etr :  r  r """"'  '""^  ^'^--^-"^  "^^  ^-^  -^t 

need  no  be  larger  than  an  ordinary  tea  cup,  and  is  used  by 
mov,ng  the  straight  side  along  the  bottom  of  the  trough. 

Tak.n,tke  Sj,a.n.-In  autumn  when  the  fish  work  up 
towards  the  heads  of  the  ponds,  and  some  of  them  ente 
«^    raceways,  ,t,s  time  that  the  Utter  should  be  covered 
w.th  loose  boards,  and  that  persons  should  show  themselves 
a   httleas  poss,b^3  to  the  fish  in  that  vicinity;  they  can  be 
ob.ervei  through  the  cracks  between  the  boards.     It  will 
be  seen  that  the  females  only  prepare  the  nests.     This  is 
done  by  laymg  their  sides  against  the  bottom  and  rapidly 
«»pp.ng  their  tails  to  displace  the  gravel,  the  males  in  the 

and  fish  hat  are  ready  at  hand  to  devour  the  spawn. 
The  pccnhar  motion  „f  the  female  when  she  is  about  to 
-pawn  or  ha,  con.mcncec-,  is  a  I„„g,  ,,„„,  ,;i 

■onofte  body  from  head  to  tail,  resembling  the  mov  1 
o  a  snake  along  the  ground,  although  she  doc,  not  pro! 
nr«,  her  ven.  being  down  in   the  excavation  she  Z 


S2 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


I 


11 


made,  and  her  abdomen  pressed  on  the  gravel  to  help  the 
emission  of  the  ova.  When  this  is  observed  it  is  certain 
that  the  trout  have  commenced  spawning.  The  lower  grating 
or  wire  screen  should  then  be  slipped  into  its  place  at  the 
end  of  the  raceway,  and  the  box  or  trap  which  I  have 
already  described  should  be  covered  with  a  platform  made 
for  that  purpose.  The  boards  covering  the  raceway  nearest 
the  trap  should  then  be  removed,  when  the  fish  will  run 
down  and  find  cover  under  the  platform;  the  upper  screen 
is  then  quietly  slipped  into  its  place  and  the  fish  enclosed. 
On  removing  the  platform  the  fish  are  dipped  out  with  a 
net  made  of  gunny  cloth  or  sea  grass  skirting,  attached 
to  a  square  frame,  which  should  be  as  wide  as  the  trap ;  it 
should  also  be  tied  at  the  bottom  so  that  the  string  can  be 
removed  and  the  fish  dropped  into  a  tub  of  water.  As  the 
fish  are  manipulated  they  are  returned  to  the  pond  or  placed 
in  another  tub,  which  is  to  be  emptied  into  the  pond  after 
the  spawn  and  milt  are  expressed.  A  milk  pan  of  the 
ordinary  shape,  holding  about  six  quarts,  and  filled  a  fourth 
or  a  third  full  of  clear  water,  is  also  provided  for  the  spawn 
and  milt. 

It  is  better  that  the  water  should  be  fecundated  first, 
80  that  the  eggs  may  be  brought  into  contact  with  the  atoms 
of  milt  as  soon  as  they  are  expressed.  The  manipulation 
should  be  quickly  and  carefully  performed.  Putting  the 
hand  into  the  tub  and  approaching  a  mule,  close  on  him 
g  n<tly  and  lift  him  out ;  then  grasping  him  with  as  little 
violence  as  possible,  with  the  right  hand  by  the  head  and 
shoulders,  his  head  towards  the  wrist  and  the  left  hand 


53 


TROUT  BREEDING, 
holding  the  ta.l,  ^  represented  in  the  figure  in  the  frol 

of  th«     „„t;    hoM   the  vent  of  the   fi.h   henoath   the 
rfaee  of  the  „a..r  in  the  pan,  hending  the  head  and  tai 
shgh  ly  upward,.    If  the  ..It  is  well  matured,  and  he  d.., 
not  struggle  or  hold  it  baok,  a  small  portion  will  be  emitted  • 

hen  wuh  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand,  the  other  thLe' 

gently  ^wards  the  vent,  extracting  all  the  milt  he  will 
g.ve,  and  st.r  the  water  with  his  tail.     If  the  fish  are  pas- 
-ve  aa  they  generally  are  during  the  operation,  the  hold 
on  the  head  and  shoulders  n.ay  be  relaxed,  and  the  right 
hand   passed  along  the  body  below  the   head,  pressrng 
he  n.,t  0.  the  ova  towards  the  vent.      The  female  i! 
handled  .n  the  same  manner,  the  eggs  Sowing  in  a  pale 
yellow  stream  from  the  vent,  if  she  is  fully  Hpe  all  the 
eggs  s  ould  he  taken  from  her;  if  she  is  large  Indltrnggles 
and  the  same  remark  appli«,  of  course  to  the  males  a„ 
—t  should  hold  the  tail.     The  mere  bending  of 't 
head  and  ta.l,  as  illustrated,  will  frequently  cau.e  the  eggs 
•o  flow  .f  the  fish  is  fully  ripe.     The  indications  of  ripenes! 
when  taken  in  the  hand  are,  firstly,  a  pale  siekly  y'dlw 
t.nge;  secondly,  she  is  very  soft  and  flabby;  thirdly  Z 

vent„exceedi„g,ypr„t„beranta„dofadarku.ple::i    : 
fourthly,  the  eggs  are  loose  in  the  ovary,  and  fall  toward: 

h     head    f  held  by  the  tail,  .„d  „„,  fl„„,  „,  j  ,^^^ 
J  ^t  remarked,  w.thout  pressure,  by  bonding  the  vent  well 

they  w.n  be  lelt  like  shot  or  small  peas  in  the  be.iy.     The 


■ 


54 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


water  should  be  stirred  gently,  now  and  then,  as  each  fish 
is  operated  upon,  and  the  fish  (males  or  females)  may  be 
handled  as  they  come  to  hand.  When  enough  eggs  have 
been  taken  to  cover  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  and  enough 
milt  to  give  the  water  a  milky  appearance,*  the  pan  may  be 
covered  and  set  aside ;  the  water  of  the  pond  surrounding 
it,  if  the  weather  is  cold,  or  it  may  be  placed  in  an  unoc- 
cupied nest  of  one  of  the  hatching-troughs.  The  eggs,  in 
a  few  minutes  after  receiving  the  milt,  will  adhere  to  the 
bottom  of  the  pan,  and  should  not  be  disturbed  until  they 
are  loose,  which  will  be  in  the  course  of  fifteen  or  thirty 
minutes.     During  this  time  impregnation  takes  place,  and 

*  About  the  middle  of  May,  this  year,  I  met  Mr.  Ainsworth  by 
appointment  in  Elk  county.  Pa.,  to  enjoy  a  few  days  fly-fishin{r. 
In  our  conversation  on  the  impregnation  of  ova,  he  narrated  the 
following  occurrence.  Last  fall,  near  the  end  of  the  spawning  sea- 
son, when  the  males  had  mostly  cast  their  milt,  ho  one  day  had 
taken  enough  eggs  to  cover  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  and  could  only 
procure  a  single  male.  From  this  he  expressed  not  more  than  a 
good  sized  drop  of  milt,  not  enough  to  tinge  the  water.  He,  never- 
theless, set  the  pan  away,  gii  ing  the  ova  and  this  slightly  sperra- 
atized  water  the  usual  time,  and  then  placed  the  eggs  in  a  separate 
nest  in  hi^  hatching-trough,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  in  a  few 
days  to  find  them  all  impi*egnated.  In  due  time  they  hatched,  but 
few  eggs  being  lost  in  incubation.  Will  any  biologist  give  us  the 
result  of  his  speculations  as  to  the  number  of  spermatozoa  in  this 
drop  of  milt  ?  Although  we  cannot  but  admire  this  wonderful  pro- 
vision of  nature,  I  cannot  advise  my  readers  to  be  as  trjistful  of  a 
single  drop  of  milt  imparting  its  fecundating  quality  to  two  or  three 
quarts  of  water,  unless  it  be  for  mere  experiment. 


TROUT  BREEDING.  gg 

Whon  all  the  fish  in  the  trap  have  been  handled,  it  n,av 
be  set  aga.n,  and  the  boards  towards  the  upper  par  of  ThT 

H:ott:iXT„ri;i:vr"^'"'"^"-''^ 

bottom  of  .1,  '  '""  °°'  *"  '^'^""•''  tke 

bottom  of  the  race;  as  it  is  possible  that  very  rough  usa™ 

::i  '"'"  '--  '">-  -t^™.  again,  and  indnoeleri 
::'  "  7-»-«-P>-ee  in  the  pond,  where  the  eggs  or  th! 
young  fry  at  all  events  would  be  devoured.     The  disposi 
"""  "'"  ""»  "-^-S  «">  to  enter  the  race  aj  i     h T 
ever,  ,s  ve^  strong.     I  have  seen  scores  of  thcnf  th  t  hal 
been  handled  and  not  ,„ite  ripe,  on  being  returned  1 1 
pond,  wa,t.ng  for  the  grating  .„  be  removed,  and  would  rl 
up  as  soon  as  it  was  lifted. 

If  there  arc  many  ripe  fish  running  up  the  race,  they 
my  be  taken  and  manipulated  once  or  twice  a  day.      VI.  I 

ere  arc  fewer  spawners.  it  may  be  as  well  to  L  t  cm 
only  on  alternate  days. 

After  the  eggs  have  remained  in  the  fecundated  water 
for  twenty  minutes  or  a  half  hour  or  until  fh.  T 

from    f],o    U  ..  «  '  "   *"®^  ^^^   loose 

from  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  they  should  be  washed-  a 
board  extending  across  the  race,  or  the  platform  of  th    t;ap 
be.ng  a  convenient  place  for  doing  so.     The  ed.     f     ' 
pan  »h„„  d  be  lowered  gently,  beneath  the  surfaerthat  th 
f^sh  water  „,»y  enter.     It  is  then  poured  off,  allowing 
enough  to  ren.ain  ..  keep  the  eggs  well  covered.     Aftc: 
-pe.tn.g  this  several  times,  until  the  water  is  clear,  the 


I 


56 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


eggs  are  ready  to  be  placed  in  the  hatching-trough.  Al- 
though they  will  be  whirled  about  by  the  influx  of  the 
water  in  washing,  they  are  so  much  heavier,  that  they  will 
remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  pan.  The  washing  should  be 
done  with  an  effort  to  give  them  no  more  motion  than  is 
required  in  the  operation. 

There  are  sometimes  four  or  five  times  as  many  males  as 
there  are  spawners  taken  in  the  trap,  particularly  at  the 
first  of  the  season.  An  additional  tub  should  therefore  be 
provided,  and  the  excess  of  males  placed  in  it  for  the  time, 
so  that  their  milt  may  be  used  or  not,  as  may  be  required. 

The  plan  pursued  in  France  of  holding  the  fish  pendent 
by  the  head,  as  is  illustrated  in  the  lower  figure  in  the  frontis- 
piece, and  allowing  the  spawn  to  fall  into  the  pan  of  water 
below,  is  not  practised  in  this  country  by  experienced  fish 
culturists.  By  the  improved  method  of  holding  the  vent 
beneath  the  water,  the  unnatural  falling  of  the  eggs  from  a 
height,  and  bringing  them  in  contact  with  the  air  before 
they  are  impregnated,  is  avoided.  It  is  obvious  also  that 
the  new  mode  is  more  in  accordance  with  the  natural  way 
of  the  parent  fish. 

Before  depositing  the  eggs  in  the  trough,  an  extra  strip 
an  inch  and  a  half,  or  two  inches  wide,  if  a  notch  is  cut  out 
of  the  upper  side,  is  placed  above  the  strip  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  nest,  to  dam  the  water  and  increase  the  depth.  The 
edge  of  the  pan  is  then  gently  lowered  beneath  the  surface 
that  some  of  the  water  of  the  trough  may  enter,  and  the 
eggs  poured  slowly  out,  distributing  them  as  evenly  as  possi- 
ble over  the  nest.     A  more  equal  distribution  should  after- 


TROUT  BREEDING. 

ward,  be  „ade  by  uaing  .he  soft  .ide  of  a  .^„t  feather 

A  n.«t  fourteen  inche.  wide  aad  eighteen  inehes  long,  wili 

uffioe  for  fonr  thousand  egg,  without  their  lying  oiZ 

of  each  other.     When  the  strip  used  for  the  temper    ' 

ally  tha    the  e^  u..^  „„,  he  ai^turbed,  as  they  would  be 

should  be  m  the  lower  nest  »nA  ^u       •         ,  ^ 

luwer  nest,  and  then  in  each  suopps«)iV« 

r;  ~  *^  '-''.  -  «■-  the  fry  beiow,  hat^ 

before  those  above,  can  have  aceess  to  the  nursery  when 

0.    enough,  without  passing  over  and  disturbing  In 

A  trout,  the  second  autumn,  when  twentyone  or  twentv 
^months  ..d  wiU  give  fro.  two  hundred'  to  three  hul 

Ihe  fourth,  frem  a  thousand  to  twelve  hundred.    The  fifth 
from  two  to  three  thousand,  aeoording  to  its  size.  ' 

The  fUh  euIturistwiU  not  be  able  to  procure  all  the  eg^ 
that  h,s  spawners  have,  for  his  hatehing-treughs.     A  g'o'd 

tbe  fmes  of  dr.ving  them  into  the  trap.    Mueh  of  it  will 
be  devoured  as  soon  as  it  is  emitted,  or  will  be  thrown  out 
by  repeated  nest-making  on  the  same  bed  of  gravel  and 
e„  eaten  hy  the  fish.     Notwithstanding  all  this,  hj  Cl 
find  through  the  winter  a  goodly  number  of  young  fish  in 
h.  raceway  and  at  the  heads  of  his  ponds,  that  have  come 
from  eggs  wb.eh  have  escaped  these  dangers.     It  we  H 
therefore,  be  as  well  to  exclude  the  fish  from  the  raceways' 


"uppppp 


58 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


at  the  close  of  the  spawning  serson,  and  prevent  the  fry 
thai  may  be  hatclied  out  from  "oming  down  into  the  ponds. 
This  can  be  done  by  putting  in  a  fine  wire  screen  at  iha 
lower  end  of  the  trap,  and  a  coarse  one  to  catch  the  leaves 
and  drift  at  the  upper  end.  The  race  will  thus  be  turned 
into  an  out-door  nursery,  and  the  young  fish  can  be  taken 
at  the  trap  and  turned  into  the  first  pond,  when  those  from 
the  nursery  under  roof  are  transferred. 

Paching  and  transporting  ova. — As  soon  as  the  first  for- 
ir'»tion  of  the  young  fish  can  be  seen,  eggs  may  be  sent  off, 
although  some  persons  think  that  the  eyes  should  be  plainly 
visible  before  transportation.  The  plan  now  pursued  at 
Iluningue,  is  to  pack  them  in  short  wide-mouthed  glass 
jars.  In  this  country  shallow  tin  boxes  are  generally  used. 
Both  here  and  in  France  they  are  packed  in  damp  moss, 
the  top  and  bottom  of  the  jar  or  box  being  perforated  so 
as  to  admit  some  air.  The  bottom  of  the  box  is  covered 
with  moss,  well  washed  and  water  pressed  out,  but  still  quite 
moist ;  on  this  the  eggs  are  spread  so  as  not  to  overlie  each 
other.  A  layer  of  moss  an  inch  thick  is  then  placed  on  the 
eggs.  Then  comes  anothev  layer  of  eggs,  and  so  ">n  until 
three  or  four  alternate  layers  fill  the  box.  The  tin  boxes  are 
Sv3curely  closed  and  packed  with  saw-dust  between,  in  a 
wooden  box,  a  layer  of  saw-dust  two  or  three  inches  thick 
protecting  the  top,  bottom,  and  sides,  from  exposure  to 
extremes  of  heat  or  cold.  A  tin  box  six  inches  in  diameter 
and  three  inches  deep  will,  with  the  moss,  contain  easily 
three  thousand  eggs.  At  a  temperature  from  five  to 
fifteen  degrees  above  freezing  point,  a  box  of  ova,  if  care- 


TROUT  BREEDING.  ^ 

»o^,  m  h,8  hatohing-housc,  for  more  than  six  ^oeks  and 
en  placed  then,  in  h..„n,hs,wWo>a„econ.  „;;::' 

Now  York,  .ent  n,a  last  fa!l  i„  an  old  tin  tobacco  b«  L 
large  as  n,y  three  finger,,  one  hundred  and  twentyeglbT 
mail ;  which  fmm  a^i      i.  "^"vy  eggs  Dy 

week  on  the  way.     On  opening  them  they  were  111  i„ 
good  cond,tion  but  one,  which  had  been  n.afhed     A  few 

that  I  i  ""  P™'^"'™  "'^^  P-king  them  in  moss 

than  I  have  recommended  above      If  ,h.  „       ,, 

<^^r,  the  eggs  will  nndonbtodly  ;rish     -  "  '""""^ 

In  manipulating  fish  by  the  side  of  the  stream  if  at  a 

d  .tanco  from  the  troughs,  the  ova  is  necessarily  cald  „ 

water.     Care  should,  therefore,  be  had  that  th.  , 

.- ... ..  .w  ir :;i:;  :r  •"«"""-- 

bucket    and   Mr    n  i,-  ^  ^       "" '"  "  ""  '=«<i'"' 

•  Hamn  b       .  /'  °"'   °^  *'''^'''*   Village,   New 

o™l:^::;lt:;:r:::■r"-""'^'"- 
o«t  and  set  in  the  water  of  the  hi  \      .     '  "'"'  "^■' 

cellar  where  they  will  I:  W  "tTht "  "'  '"  '  7" 

«o,„vi„g  the  cover  and  taking  „ff  TtoZ.      '7  ^^ 

should  be  immersed  in  a  vessel  of    le  .  ^"       ■"""'' 

vessel  oi  clear  water  and  turned 


60 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


bottom  up.  The  moss  should  then  be  gently  shaken  and 
picked  out  that  the  eggs  may  fall  to  the  bottom ;  whatever 
moss  cannot  be  conveniently  picked  out  with  the  fingers 
can  be  floated  and  poured  off  by  two  or  three  washings,  as 
is  done  after  taking  the  eggs  from  a  trout,  and  before 
depositing  them  in  the  trough. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  says :  "  The  best  contrivance  for  taking 
the  eggs  from  the  trough  in  numbers,  is  a  piece  of  fine 
wire  cloth  six  or  seven  inches  square,  turned  up  at  the  sides 
and  at  one  end  liice  a  dust-pan.  In  using  it,  place  it  on  the 
bottom  of  the  nest  and  gently  brush  the  eggs  into  the  open 
end  with  a  feather  or  wing,  then  put  the  wire  pan  into  a 
dish  of  water  and- allow  them  to  slide  off.  In  this  manner 
they  can  be  removed  with  ease  and  rapidity.  The  best 
thing  to  examine  a  iarge  number  of  eggs  on,  and  see  at 
once  all  the  imperfect  and  unimpregnated  spawn,  is  a  pane 
of  window  glass  with  a  tight  wooden  frame  around  it.  Set 
this  with  a  half  inch  of  water  on  it,  in  the  light  of  a  win- 
dow, shading  the  side  towards  the  window,  so  as  to  allow 
the  light  to  come  up  through  the  bottom  of  the  pane,  and 
you  can  see  every  imperfect  egg  and  pick  them  out. 

In  counting  them,  a  four-sided  tin  dish  with  sloping  sides, 
holding  forty  in  a  line  lengthwise  and  twenty-five  across, 
can  be  used.  Six  eggs  laid  in  a  line  measure  a  littlb  over 
or  under  an  inch.  If,  therefore,  the  bottom  of  the  vessel 
used  for  counting  is  six  and  two-third  inches  long,  by  four 
and  one-sixth  inches  wide,  it  will  take  about  a  thousand 
eggs  to  cover  it. 


TKOUT  BREEDINa. 


61 


O  0  d)  d 


3 


9 


20 


I 


21        13 

®  ® 


-ation  takes  place.     WhetheH        t  ^""'  ''"'  """"«• 
b-nes  of  the  ova,*  „r  ;„/'    ,  ""  ""=  '">  "■- 

■""0  to  sa,,  but  it       e"    L    :  """I  ™"''""'''  ^  ^  -»' 
-embrane  to  the  top     TM         T     "  "■"""  '^^  ™*^' 

•'ero-He„,bti:Tjrjto:t7'"r^^'^'"^'^ 

of  the  head  of  a  sm»n  „•      ■     '  ''"  ''"•™'  '^e  size 
_^»f^™allpmd™gated  upwards,  as  showa  in    " 

"hen  *e  «*  ,-,  ,,„^,„,  0.,'yl  /"^  '  ""''  "  '  »  "">'•"-.  .ao 

'ke  young  «3„  emerges  from  .he  ^X  L     Tv        '  "™'  ""' 
g  «gg  With  the  yolk  attached. 


II 


62 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


figure  1.  Looking  down  on  the  egg,  the  speck  is  seen  in 
the  centre,  apparently  on  top,  as  in  figure  2, 

"  Seven  days  after  the  ova  is  taken,  (the  water  at  47°),  a 
small  circle  is  seen  around  the  speck,  whether  the  egg  be 
impregnated  or  not,  and  the  two  are  so  much  alike  at  this 
stage,  that  it  is  difficult  to  know  which  are  the  fecundated, 
and  which  are  not,  and  yet  a  very  close  examination  will 
show  a  difference.  The  fecundated  egg  has  a  clearer  speck 
in  the  centre,  and  the  ring  around  the  speck  is  larger,  as 
will  be  een  by  referring  to  figure  3.  The  unimpregnated 
is  illustrated  by  figure  4. 

"  When  nine  days  old,  the  circle  in  the  impregnated  egg 
has  enlarged,  a  slight  brownish  or  bluish  gray  tinge  per- 
vading the  interior ;  the  germ  having  spread  over  a  sixth 
part  of  the  egg,  presenting  the  appearance  of  figure  5 ; 
while  the  unimpregnated  still  remains  as  pictured  in  figure 
4.  The  latter  never  change  after  the  ninth  day,  unless  to 
become  opaque,  which  they  continue  to  do  during  the  in- 
cubation of  the  fecundated  ova,  and  are  as  easily  distin- 
guished from  them  in  the  hatching-troughs  as  a  few  white 
beads  would  be  if  scattered  amongst  those  of  transparent 
glass. 

"  On  the  eleventh  day,  the  first  formation  of  the  fish  can 
be  seen  ;  a  brown  line  extending  from  the  circumference 
towards  the  centre  of  the  circle,  which  now  covers  one- 
third  of  the  egg.  The  appearance  of  the  egg  at  this  time 
is  exhibited,  up  by  figure  G,  and  sideways  by  figure  7. 

*'  When  twelve  days  old  the  circle  will  be  seen  to  cover 
one-half  of  the  egg.  Front  view  shown  by  figure  8,  side 
view  by  figure  9. 


TKOtTT  BREEDINa. 
"On  the  thirteenth  day  the  eircle  ha,  passed  three 
f^^s  round  the  o,„a.de..w  hem,  rented  ;; 

"0"  the  fourteenth  day  the  eircle  has  parsed  entirely 
«e  egg  and  the  yonng  trout  i3  Wd,  as  sho.nt 

"On  the  twenty-fifth  day,  the  eyes,  heart,  arteries,  red 
blood,  e.rcuiatl„n  of  blood  and  motion  „iU  be  observed 

1^-     About  the  fiftieth  day  the  young  trout  will  begin  to 

::rei:f '""^ '■■'"■  ^'•-"''™-^»---C 

T:  that  i  b        ""'"/  "  "  '"'''  •"''  y'  -  -'P-hen- 
«^  ,  tha   I  have  preferred  giving  it.     I„  referring  to  the 

t  "1 1  r\"'-  ^'■■™""''  =- » --  '-t 

».ys .  It  would  have  been  a  great  advantage  to  me  in  the 
1-g.on.ng  of  my  e.perin.en^  and  I  hope  it  wm  ^of 
-oh  benefit  to  those  who  at.».pt  the  artifieial  pr  a^n 
of  trout,  as  they  will  see  at  .  glanee  what  hJtalTl" 
nine  years  to  learn."  ° 

Mr,  Ainsworth  ha,  also  arranged  the  following  table 
|(.v.ng  the  ten-perature  of  the  water  fro.  37o  to  sI'  sh  1 
■ng  the  progress  of  development,  the  tin.e  of  ^J^^ 

1I..S  table  „  ,„ade  fron.  n.cn.oranda  he  has  kept  of  all  tlfe 
'"7"  '■•;.''"'  '""■-  f-  f"--  years;  he  says,    'x  h  vo  e 

of  >«tch,ng,  as  n.y  water  did  not  hold  at  those  degrees  1    ' 
enough  to  hatch  the  ova."  * 


I 


64 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Average  tempera- 
ture of  water. 

No.  of  days  to 
flrgt  forma- 
tion of  trout. 

No.  of  days  to 
formation  of 
eyes  and  red 
blood. 

No.  of  days  to 
hatching. 

No.  of  days  af- 
ter hatching 
to  feeding. 

37° 

43 

81 

165 

38i» 
39* 

29 

64 

135 

77 

28 

62 

121 

41^ 

27 

54 

109 

60 

21 

49 

103 

42f 

19 

42 

96 

43}« 

17 

37 

89 

46 

440 

16 

34 

81 

45  i° 

15 

31 

73 

46P 

13 

29 

65 

48= 

11 

26 

56 

50' 

10 

23 

47 

30 

52" 

8 

18 

38 

54<» 

7 

15 

32 

Appearance  of 

Bpawu  U8  tig.  3. 

as  figure  7. 

as  figure  12. 

By  comparing  the  top  with  the  bottom  line  of  this  table, 
MO  reader  will  observe  the  large  diflference  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  embryo  and  fetus,  and  the  term  of  incubation 
of  water  at  37°  and  at  54°,  as  well  as  the  difference  in  the 
time  occupied  by  the  young  fish  in  absorbing  the  umbilical 
sac  and  beginning  to  take  food.  The  time  of  incubation 
is  five  times  as  long  at  37°  as  it  is  at  54°. 

During  the  time  of  hatching  the  fish  culturist  should 
examine  his  troughs  daily,  removing  the  addled  eggs,  which 
can  be  easily  detected  from  their  being  perfectly  white  and 
opa(i[ue.  A  record  of  the  estimated  number  of  eggs 
deposited  should  be  kept,  and  the  number  of  bad  eggs  taken 
out  also  noted,  so  that  the  percentage  of  loss  in  incubation 
can  be  arrived  at  after  that  process  is  completed.     Pijery 


( 
c 
t 

V 


TROUT  BREEDING. 

65 
precaution  should  be   tatpn  *«        i  j 

and  deatroj,  the  vitality  of  the  e^l    Z"tT  "'"'' 
tliP  rlnnj  ^^^  ^"®"  ^°®  IS  destroved 

eM:f  """"•'''  "^  ^'"'^^  ^-'"e  ^-'ruotio/of 
"taers,  until  a  score  may  be  ch^r^aA  u     u    . 
T),«  ,  ^         Clasped  by  its  Ions?  fino-ers 

be  rem  ::  hv  „"  r""""!'™  "'  "'""'"' '"  "^  •-  - 

f^::;.n:i:t::i:i:-~T 

.goj.0.  .t™gg,.  f„.  iihoHy.     At  ,aat  tho^sh,,  ilir 
".e  head  appears,  then  the  pectoral  B.s,  then  the   aTl      ^ 
oon.es  onh  and  its  honse  float,  away.     Although  heils 
It  IS  not  needv  an  nmKn:    i  ,  o"  "cipioss, 

i'»  body  is  pLided  ^  '"'  "!  ''''"  '™-  "•«  bulk  of 
i       provided.     Apparently  exhausted  by  its  lat» 
effort  a„j  „,.^,h,,  j„„  ^.^,_  ,^         of  provisions    t 

-t,  or  rests  on  its  side,  or  stands  on^i/hl:  :;;lr 
"'"■     '••"""'^  """-'^''^-f  «n  ineh  Ion,,  .„7J 


II 


66  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE, 

larger  than  a  "wiggle  tail"  in  a  barrel  of  stale  rain-water. 
Poor  helpless  pigmy !  will  it  ever  rise  to  the  angler's  fly,  a 
monster  of  four  pounds,  and  give  him  a  half-hour's  hard 
fight,  or  smash  his  tackle  ?  Not  one  chance  in  a  hundred 
if  born  in  some  pebbly  brush-covered  rill.  How  many  such 
would  its.  own  father  or  mother,  a  foot  long,  devour  at  a 
single  meal  ?  five  hundred  ?  yes  a  thousand !  If  such  was 
not  the  law  of  nature,  trout  would  be  as  tlAck  in  our  streams 
as  mosquitoes  or  midges  sometimes  are  in  the  air  above 
them.  They  would  be  dirt  cheap  in  our  markets — they 
would  be  a  nuisance.  Therefore,  He  who  made  nature's  laws 
is  all  wise.  Shall  we  thwart  these  laws  or  violate  them  ? 
Did  we  do  so  when  we  made  a  Newton  pippin  of  the 
crab  apple  of  the  forest?  or  produced  the  cabbage,  that 
grows  tons  to  the  acre,  from  a  trifling  plant  found  on  the 
sea-shore  ? 

In  a  week  or  two,  the  troutlings  begin  to  move  about, 
then  to  flit  through  the  mi'uic  brook  in  tho  hatching-trough 
as  you  cast  your  shadow  over  it,  and,  true  to  instinct  stick 
their  heads  under  pebbles,  or  hide  under  the  fall  made 
below  the  strip  at  the  head  of  the  nest.  They  become 
more  vgile  as  the  sac  is  absorbed,  and  at  last,  when  the 
whole  stock  of  pabulum  is  exhausted,  they  begin  to  seek 
their  own  living,  darting  through  the  water  after  micro- 
scopic insecfs,  groping  in  the  gravel  for  larvae ;  or  rising 
at  some  minute  gnat,  or  at  atoms  of  blood  or  curdled  milk 
or  yolk  of  egg,  that  are  fed  to  them. 

As  soon  as  the  first  brood  appears  in  a  trough,  a  fine  wire 
cloth  screen  should  bo  placed  acrosr  the  lower  end.     When 


F 

o 

8 


TROUT  BREEDING 

one  part  of  the  trouirh      Th«      .       J  '"^  ^°^ 

those  where  the  screpn.  '  ^"^  *°P  ^^ 

Where  there  are  nnt  «.  .  removed  into  another 

when  two  „,o„I        .         "^°™"'  "*  ""•     ^'■«  '""e^ 

'---:!::  ret:  ::■,::;:;-- ^° 

-"  «eae.a,„  «„eceod  i„  doing         V,!  "'"".l  '""'  »"" 
or  two  should  elaw  i       i  """«>■■'>>■?  a  month 

ft    wicn  eggs,  It  IS  necessary  to  nrotpof  yh.  }  ^    v 
early  comers.     When  th.  f     u  ""^^  ^"''"^  <^^« 

-.o.h  he:ot:\r:::h;rr^^^^^^^ 
«-a.  and  .:::ir;c;:th"'" ""''""'" 

clear.  ^     ''   "'  ^^^  ^^ater  becomes 

Treatment  of  the  Fn/.^Whor,  f),« 
Peared,  a  little  food  should    !  o^^^^^^^^^^^  ^.^^  '''-^^ 
of  two  or  three  days;  when  they  b^i    ,    :  ^      "'""'^ 
should  be  supplied  U>  ther    ^.^'^'^ '° '^^^^ '^ -«dily  it 
IP  ta  tothei     twice  every  day.     They  will 


I  Ml 
I 


68  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

rise  with  avidity  for  the  particles  that  float,  and  seize  those 
that  are  carried  along  beneath  the  surface. 

This  is  a  critical  time  with  the  fVy,  and  some,  perhaps 
many,  will  die  from  no  ascertainable  cause.  Great  care 
should  be  taken  that  they  are  not  washed  by  the  current  in 
numbers  against  the  screens,  as  many  are  too  weak  to  disen- 
gage themselves,  the  stream  pressing  them  against  the  wire 
cloth  until  they  die.  It  would  be  well,  therefore,  to  place 
something  in  each  nest  to  make  an  eddy  for  those  that  re- 
quire still  water,  or  have  two  short  bulkheads,  as  pictured 
in  plan  of  the  nursery.  Four  or  five  difierent  kinds  of  food 
have  been  recommended.  Liver  or  lean  meat  boiled  hard 
and  grated ;  the  yolks  of  eggs  boiled  hard  and  reduced 
almost  to  a  powder ;  raw  liver  chopped  fine  with  a  long 
sharp  knife;  fresh  or  coagulated  blood;  fresh  shad  or 
herring  roe,  raw  or  boiled :  thick  milk  or  bonny-clabber, 
and  curds.  The  best  way  of  feeding  bonny-clabber,  is  to 
dip  out  two  or  three  spoonfuls  from  the  pan  in  which  it 
has  thickened,  into  the  small  net  used  for  transferring  the 
fry  from  one  apartment  to  another.  The  net  is  held  in  the 
water,  and  the  clabber,  by  breaking  and  stirring  with  a 
spoon,  is  reduced  to  fine  particles,  while  the  whey  is  carried 
off"  by  the  current.  By  shaking  the  net  and  canting  it,  the 
atoms  float  out  and  are  borne  along  mostly  on  top,  when 
the  fry  will  rise  eagerly  at  them,  and  also  take  those  beneath 
the  surface,  as  well  as  the  particles  that  after  awhile  sink 
to  the  bottom.  This  is  the  lightest,  and,  I  think,  the  most 
suitable  thing  for  fry  when  they  first  begin  to  feed.  Curd, 
which  may  be  fed  to  them  a  few  vvcvks  or  a  month  later. 


TBOUT  BREEDING 

feeding,  „„e  e.oeeding  a  h  ,"  hj  '      ^^^-d  at  each 
»»».ber  two  or  three  alrt  I  T    .  ®  ™  ''"'S^  " 

"  i"".p  of  curd  J  l;:?::' ?t  '^ ''°'''''' '-" 

each,  half-full  „f  „,.,:    '^°'-  forefinger  dropped  into 
triturated  sueee.irrand  the"      ,:"  "''  ''°"'  '=  *™ 

-'t^e  parties  .rji^rr-::;- 

turations  rediiM  if  »„    »  '  ™'o*  tn- 

"s  reduce  it  to  atoms  sufficiently  small      T„  r    j- 

"  '0  the  try,  the  rim  of  the  bowl  l/         !'  .  '"^ 

surface;  the  influz  of  ,^  '"'""'  ''"^''^»"'  ""« 

'fe-t  P^ticle   a    :nd  ^nr;    hT"'^  """  ""'*  '"« 

-  distributed  in  dirt;r::ir":"r"'- 

of  curd  each  as  large  as  one's  forefinger  ftdt  th  "' 

floes  for  forty  thousand  frv  when  thev  "''  "'• 

-  the, grow,  the  quantit/sllTd  he' Tdrr-  ''''""'■ 
.■>«'  double  this  ,„.ntit,  i  enough  as  W  a  l'"""'' 
in   the   hatching-troughs       Wl,       1     ^  "^ "'""'"" 

-ser,  the  ,ua„t  t;"!,  h! ^        '  "^  '"  '"'°  '"^ 
enough  to  foul'the  botC    An  h!       T"""'  '"'■  ■"" 
if  '"e  gravel  i,  stirred  Ti.htt  th       "V?  """'^  '^''"°="' 
have  settled  to  the  bottom  tLr't^  "1 '""  """ 
^"''eit  again.     If  ,„„  much  „    t^f    7        !      ^^^ -" 

A  stnp  four  or  five  inches  wide  should  now  he  placed 


70 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


fi 


above  the  wire  screen  at  the  end  of  each  trough,  as  the  fry 
will  leap  over  the  top  if  it  is  only  an  inch  or  so  above  the 
surface,  and  thus  make  their  escape.  When,  from  their 
numbers  and  size,  the  hatching-troughs  become  too  small  to 
accommodate  them  all  comfortably,  they  may  be  lifted  out 
with  the  small  net  and  placed  below.  It  is  well,  also,  to 
keep  the  bed  of  gravel  at  the  top  of  each  trough  an  inch  or 
two  above  the  surface,  as  they  ha\e  a  disposition  to  wriggle 
oyer,  if  it  is  even  the  eighth  of  an  inch  in  depth,  and  run 
up  the  little  jet  from  the  supply-trough,  then  into  the 
filterer,  and  even  into  the  supply-pipe.  Concerning  their 
disposition  to  escape  from  the  nursery,  Mr.  Ainsworth  in- 
formed me  he  once  missed  many  of  his  fry,  and  found  them 
in  a  pond  where  he  kept  his  large  fish.  After  many  days* 
search  for  the  place  of  exit,  he  found  that  one  of  the  planks 
had  a  hole  the  size  of  a  quill  in  it,  eaten  by  a  wood-worm 
before  it  was  placed  there ;  through  this,  an  earth-worm 
which  had  found  it,  made  its  way,  and  then  through  a 
bank  of  clay  five  or  six  feet  to  the  large  pond ;  the  fry  had 
escaped  along  this  narrow  channel.  I  had  a  like  experi- 
ence at  the  establishment  which  I  Sviiied  in  Warren 
county,  New  Jersey ;  many  thousand  of  the  fry  escaping 
through  a  crack  in  the  mason-work,  not  more  than  wide 
enough  to  thrust  fh"  blade  of  a  stout  breakfast-knife  in. 
These  little  matters  of  experience  I  jot  down  to  show  the 
necessity  of  having  the  sides  and  ends  of.  the  nursery  of 
sound  plank,  and  of  providing  against  every  chance  of 
escape. 

A  month  or  six  weeks  after  the  fry  commence  feeding, 


71 


TROUT  BREEDING 
»«>•?,  or,  as  some  call  it  tho  "  '      "•"  '-"'"'  ""o  "■'^  »"- 

«^-eab,  the  pu  ;::;:::;«-;«''•" /'^ 

earcely  e«eeds  that  of  the  two  trolTV  ^'^^ 

"»s  is  that  the  fry  mav  h.  ,^  ''""°°  *" 

'%are.o.„„aroi/i:::;v-v^''''"'''^''' 

whole  width  of  tho  hat.1,-      T  '"■«''  ""'•''■■y  *<> 

»'--.h3.  ih!:et:tz:rr^^--' 

■"""l.  of  the  food   thrown  il  ^^ ''''"  "'^''" ' 

«mai„s  only  to  fo„,  the  h  V      .     "  ""'  ''"*°'  ""^  i' 
J  "J  loui  tiie  bottom ;  besidpi  it  i.„ 

"nd  little  eddies,  which  the  tr,  '  ""  """""^ 

i-«  iu  tho  „„rse  ies  i    t^.      '  ""  '"  """"'  '"■     ^ ""  ''-''- 
After  al,  the:  Jir^T'^r ''-™»S'''- 

'<■«  %H  and  the  windows  rd2r.:;;\" ''''"''' 
weather  is  fine.    Part  rf  ,t  '''''  "'""'  "•« 

-"-or,  should  be  p„t  on  i  °"  "*  ^'"^  »™'  'ke 

^ootwidef„r.i„;:::;:-;-;.;>"-p.an.s„fa 

"^^  o-ough.     Each  slab  n,av  h  ™  '=""''  '''^' 

hi"ges  to  admit  the  sun  V  ""'°™''  "  ""^^  '"™  "» 
-  "-ki-g  in  the  sunshine  orfhlr^l''"'^™"^"'"- 
does  not  cover  the  grave     1  ""'     '"'  ""'  "■"*' 

gravel  to  more  than  the  depth  of  an 


72 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


inch,  and  su'dli  contrivance  (which  I  adopted  at  my  place 
in  Warren  county,  New  Jersey)  will  meet  the  case. 

fraurponation  of  Fry. — A  large  number  of  young  fish 
may  be  transported  in  a  few  cub' '  feet  of  water.     A  sh©rt 
time  after  they  commence  feeding,  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  might  be  sent  off  in  twenty 
gallons,  if  care  i?  taki^a  to  renew  the  water,  as  I  have  re- 
marked on  transporting  adult  fish.     A  hundred  might  be 
taken  in  a  jar  holding  a  gallon,  if  the  water  is  kept  cool  and 
aerated.     On  one  of  the  plates  of  the  Massachusetts  Fish 
Commissioners'  Report  for  1867,  is  figured  a  tank  a-fourth 
wider  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top,  with  a  pump  inside 
for  oxygenating ,  the  wate;r.     It  is  an  excellent  contrivance 
for  conveying  either  young  or  old  fish.     Care  should  be 
taken  that  the  vessel  in  which  the  fry  are  carried  is  free 
from  any  strong  taint.     A  new  red-cedar  bucket  for  in- 
stance might  prove  fatal  to  them.* 

According  to  the  system  of  rotation  in  occupying  the 
ponds  as  already  given,  pond  No.  1  will  be  vacated  by  the 
latter  part  of  summer.  The  fry  should  then  be  admitted 
from  the  nursery,  care  being  taken  that  none  remain  behind. 
If  any  should  linger  tht^y  will  become  attenuated  and  ill- 
favored  from  lack  of  food,  and  may,  if  they  survive,  bo 
hungry  devourers  of  the  fry  next  season. 


*I  this  day  (May  2gi]i  1868)  noted  a  gre;u  disparity  in  the  size 
of  the  fry  in  Mr.  Comfort's  troughs  and  nursery,  the  largest  being 
at  least  four  times  the  size  of  the  smallest.  Mr.  C.  assured  me  ho 
has  seen  within  a  few  days,,  tlie  larger  endeavor  to  swallow  their 
smaller  brethren  of  the  same  brood,  and  supposes  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  their  efforts  in  some  instances. 


TKOUT  BREEDING. 


78 


CHAPTER  ly. 

TROUT  BEEEDING 

Allowance  of  f„„j  ;„^       "l  '""•>  °"'eS<«..-M«ggoW.„,„^._ 

^«ili.ies  p„.e.ed  b,  ft™™.™;"'  ""  '^-''  "^  ''""in,.- 
of  i"  "eln,  profiuMe-Es.,-™,.:''"'""^ '-'-»"'■'«- 
Proposed  .,.„u.  b,eedl„,  „    "^  ° ^  °'  '"^"^  '"'  •=««- 

rraoce.-HeUelberg.lF Lh"!,!'  T        '""''  «"'«*«„.,  i, 

...MUb.e„.._.e„ip«orof  ::;^:,: "  "^-  ""-°- 

-nd  can  hardly  be  driv.n  >       *-^™»'  "^  oarmvorous 
i-»-  thou,  i^  „;j  r,""  '"*  '*S-'^'"«  food.     I  have 

.Ho.hr.eh.he™::::::;;*----" 

attracted  no  doubt  bv  ih.       V  ^    '  ""^"^  «^^''Ped; 

-•.'■.eve^eeai^lXrh'^rr 

P""-*-  When  the  weath  rh  111!""'  """""  """  '"e 
*«  Orin,  .ie.  on  the  „ater  and  Zlt  I  """''  '"'"'''■ 
Ae  month  of  the  branch  „  r"""'™ '■""»«»■>. 
P-'..opnre,an;:;;;:,~     ^^  — P" 


74 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


at  moderate  rates,  it  is  the  cheapest  strictly  animal  food  for 
a  large  number  of  fish. 

When  trout  are  raised  in  ponds  of  the  dimensions  I 
have  given,  it  is  evident  that  little  or  no  dependence  is  to 
be  placed  on  natural  feed,  such  as  flies  and  their  larvae. 
Hence,  the  necessity  of  providing  curds,  or  liver  and  lungs 
of  animals  at  prices  that  will  not  cause  too  great  an  expendi- 
ture for  the  value  of  the  crop.  I  have  found  that  the  curd 
from  the  milk  of  one  cow  which  gave  fourteen  quarts, 
would  feed  bountifully  %  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  trout, 
averaging  five-eighths  or  three-quarters  of  a  pound;  the 
smallest  being  seven  inches  long,  and  the  largest  from  two 
to  three  pounds  in  weight.  The  food  should  be  chopped 
or  crumbled  to  the  size  of  peas. 

In  feeding,  a  good  plan  is  to  have  a  piece  of  timber 
extending  over  the  pond ;  the  person  giving  the  food  stand- 
ing on  it,  thus  familiarizes  the  fish  with  their  presence. 
They  soon  become  acquainted  with  sounds  or  objects  on 
the  bank  which  indicate  an  approaching  meal.  The  sight 
of  a  person  with  a  basin  or  crock,  or  the  sound  of  the  chop- 
ping hatchet,  causes  a  great  commotion  in  the  finny  com- 
munity; when  a  handful  is  thrown  in,  heads,  tails,  and 
bodies  immerge  in  an  upward  shower.  When  they  are  fed 
from  the  cross-timber,  they  soon  become  so  tame  as  to  take 
the  food  from  one's  fingers — with  risk  to  the  feeder,  how- 
ever, of  receiving  some  severe  scratches  or  bites  from  their 
sharp  teeth. 

The  larvae  of  the  common  green  fly,  known  as  maggots, 
are  hatched  in  putrid  flesh  or  animal  off^al  from  May  to 


TROUT  BREEDING. 
December,  and  are  more  rutritious  as  well  as  mor^  n«*      i 

,       M  .od  dehcous  »  fish  .s  a  trouv,  fed  „„  maggot,.     Does 
Trrri  *"  "'  "•"'  "  ""^  '=^'''  "''^°  -  "-o  --ages 

I  have  often  f„„„d,  would  exhibit  rather  a  heterogeneou 
assort.ent,-„„t  o.ittiog  .  few  green  ea,»rpi,>a^,  and 

d  pos.t  then:  for  ineubation  in  waters  that  are  natural 
homos  for  trout.     If  these  diminutive  larv.  give  grorh 
and  flavor  ^  trout  in  wild  streams,  what  would  the  Zp 
offspr.ng  of  green  flies  do,  if  fed  to  then,  in  stock    'Z 
I  have  found  then,  ta  he  taken  with  as  n.„eh  gusto  as  "    „ 
turtle  was  taken  by  London  aldermen  in  olden  tin.es  L 
they  no  doubt  produee  the  same  aldermanio  proportion" 
Fron,  my  own  e.perienee,  I  would  say  that  ten  pountof 
beef  s  hver  produces  more  than  that  weight  of  maggots    If 
boxes  are  provided,  with  bottoms  of  woven  wire  s!Lien% 
open  to  allow  the  larva,  to  drop  through  when  shaken  ad 

out,  these  boxes  may  be  kept  as  worm-produee.  i„  some 
out-of-the-way  place,  and  taken  to  the  pond  and  shaken 
after  removing  ehe  sliding  bot.m.     Seth  Green  find:;: 
head  of  a  beef  productive  in  this  way,  dipping  it  i„  t},e 
water  and  shaking  the  larv«  off  to  his  fish  and  setting  i 
away  ,„  a  box  to  produee  more.     An  old  friend,  who  tak 
-  .nterest  ,„  all  that  pertains  to  tront-hreeding  diseou.^ 


7^ 


76 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


on  this  wisey  on  maggots  as  trout  food :  "  The  City  of  Lon- 
don contains  about  three  and  a  half  millions  of  people ;  its 
citizens  are  great  ogg-eaters,  consuming  more  than  a  million 
daily.  To  supply  this  demand  in  part,  egg-producing  com- 
munities have  grown  up  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  British 
Channel,  in  France  and  Belgium.  A  man,  or  a  family,  may 
own  a  thousand  or  more  hens ;  little  or  no  vegetable  food  is 
given  to  them,  but  they  are  fed  on  maggots,  which  stimu- 
late the  laying  of  eggs.  This  food  is  obtained  in  great 
quantity  by  digging  trenches  or  pits  three  or  four  feet  wide 
and  as  many  deep.  The  bottom  of  the  pit  is  strewed  with 
fresh  horse  manure,  and  into  it  is  thrown  all  manner  of 
animal  offal  j  a  dead  Cat  or  dog,  or  any  animal  that  has  died 
naturally,  is  eagerly  sought  after.  The  maggots,  which  are 
produced  in  great  numbers,  are  raked  out  and  fed  to  the 
hens."  As  the  matter  of  food  is  one  of  importance  to  those 
who  intend  breeding  trout  in  large  numbers,  an  experiment 
of  this  kind  is  well  worth  the  trial. 

In  ponds  of  large  area,  much  natural  food  is  found  on 
aquatic  weeds  and  ether  plants.  The  long  green  silk-like 
growth,  as  fine  as  human  hair,  which  we  observe  in  some 
waters,  and  generally  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  we  find  filled 
with  little  red  coiled  up  worms;  yo"ng  periwinkles  and 
snails  abound  on  certain  weeds.  The  larvae  of  flies  are  also 
found  on  weeds,  as  well  as  on  decaying  brush  and  logs.  Min- 
nows, and  the  small  fry  of  harmless  and  worthless  species, 
wan  also  bo  grown  as  trout  food.  It  follows,  then,  that  when 
fish  have  more  range,  less  food  is  required  to  be  given 
them.     But  in  such  ponds  they  I're  less  under  control,  and 


TROUT  BREEDING.  y^ 

;  '°. ""';«  "■^"-    »-"-.  if  -h  pond,  are  ove.teckod 

i?r  "  "A  .  "'  '°°''-     '"  '""■■  ■«  I  >-«  rec„„,„,eaded 
.t .   provided  for  them.     I„  the  former  they  arc  at  „ 

.»  the  >at,.r,  stall  fed,  under  eontrol,  and  Liy  for Cto 
when  wanted.  .yrormaiket 

farmer,  have  for  hatehing  trout  spawn.     Taking  the.  a, 
a  class     hey  are  far  more  favorably  situated  and  eirl 
st^need  for  the  whole  routine  of  breeding  and  growing 
an  persons  of  a.y  other  oeeupation.    As  re^rds  the 

r    «.s.temostofthemhavespringsof„.oreorle..vo,„J 
ad  of  the  proper  temperature  on  their  premises,  and  goner 
ally  near  their  dwellings.     Labor  with  them  i,  eheap 
..-    can  be  done  at  different  season,  of  the  year  w  iho  .t 
...rfe™,witb  their  ordinary  farm  work,  „r  hiring  e::: 

Jh,eh    hey  keep  of  necessity,  would,  therefore,  cause  „„ 
expend,  ure,  and  fill  up  their  leisure  time.     The  1-ttl 

-aliet,   b.sel,  saw,  hammer,  and  j.ek-plane.   The  only  out 

%-uh,  be  for  lumber,  and  trout  0.  spawn  to  eon,,  eet 
w.th.     Jour  men,  with  „  span  of  horses,  a  pl„„gh  r„a,l 

ponJ"   f  l.«  »..e  I  have  ,le,eribed.  if  the  ground  i,  „„t  over 

stony,  in  less  than  ten  davs     Ifth,.f„r„      u 
oal  skill    .         ,  ""'" 'armor  has  no  mechani- 

»k.ll,^.  country  earpenter,  with' the  assistance  of  two 


78  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

farm  hands,  would  put  up  a  large  hatching-house  in  a  week. 
The  time  between  corn  planting  and  the  first  ploughing, 
might  be  put  in  to  advantage.     After  hay  and  oat  harvest, 
another  turn  at  the  ponds  might  be  taken,  and  the  lull  after 
the  crops  are  in  would  sufl&ce  to  finish  them.     Winter,  in 
which  the  farmer  has  but  little  to  do,  would  be  pleasantly 
and  profitably  employed  in  attending  to  the  hatching.     He 
would  have  a  certain  supply  of  fish  food  from  curds,  and  an 
occasional  one  from  the  animals  he  would  kill.      Using 
milk  does  not  rob  the  butter  jar  or  the  pig  pen,  as  it  can 
be  turned  into  curd  after  skimming,  and  the  whey  can  go 
to  the  slop  barrel.     A  friend  in  an  adjoining  county  keeps 
forty  cows  to  supply  milk  dealers  in  town.    He  has  embarked 
in  trout  breeding,  and  says  if  his  hopes  are  realized,  and  the 
matter  of  food  should  require  it,  he  will  make  butter  instead 
of  selling  milk,  and  turn  all  the  latter,  after  skimming,  into 

curds. 

Farmers,  taking  them  as  a  body,  are  slow  in  receiving  a 
new  idea  or  adopting  new  theories.  Wheat  and  corn,  which 
they  know  all  about,  are  pretty  certain,  although  they 
require  much  labor,  and  some  outlay  in  their  production. 
But  here  is  a  branch  of  industry  which  can  be  grafted  on, 
aqufficulture  an  adjunct  to  agriculture.  It  can  be  made  as 
much  of  an  accessary  as  keeping  bees  or  poultry,  and  with 
no  more  labor.  Trout  are  much  less  mischievous  than  the 
latter,  they  do  not  invade  the  garden  or  a  newly  sown  or 
planted  field,  and  can  always  be  found  within  their  circum- 
scribed bounds.  "  But,"  says  the  farmer,  "folks  w^Jl  steal 
toy  trout,"  a  town  or  manufacturing  village  withia  a  short 


TKOUT  BREEDINO 

aistance  suggesting  the  fear     Ti,;.  •  » 

also  steal  vour  JlJ  ™ '  """  ""^  ""y 

the  neillt    '^''^^^^  '"'^«  "  """derful  effect  through 
the  ne,ghb„rh„«l,  and  even  through  the  eounty. 

The  question  asked  by  „any  i,,  wi„  j.^  „„,.„^^ 
1'  wll  eertaanly  pay  i„  ,,,,^-       ^  J  y' 

y~r ''T ':"""""- "^-^--"^ - 

I  will  .iv^  K  .  ^  ^  "  answering  this  question, 
I  will  g.ve  a  bnef  summary  of  what  kas  been  done  and 
then  endeavor  to  show  what  can  be  done. 

A  few  years  since,  Seth  Green   nfta.  .    • 
r>hpn  W    A  •  ,  '    ^"^  ^^®'"g  what  Ste. 

phen  H.  Ainsworth  was  doinc^   nn^  i«      •         , 

ij  /.        .  ""'"g)  and  learning  whatevnr  ho 

:;"■  '"'",,"'«  ""'»  «"■  -tura,  estah,ish,„ent,  h  an 

la"'"  :   r'""'"  "''"^'   '-  '"»  ">- 

d.    S.OUS  and  barr.ers  to  their  escape  in  the  old  fi.rebay  and 

-way,  he  soon  had  an  abundant  .,pp,y  „f  ,,,,,J;^ 

f;"""''"-""^"— ed  artificial  propagation  wl.e    a 

fr      """'"'"-';  "■«  P'aoe,  which  was  bought  for    " 
housand.  be,„g  valued  at  twelve  thousand.     LJ^^Ti 

-n  learn,  his  pr„fi.i„,«86  were  about.  thousanL:! 


80 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


iQ  1867  five  thousand.  This  year  he  sells  three  hundred 
thousand  spawn  at  from  eight  to  ten  dollars  per  thousand ; 
and  two  hundred  thousand  young  fry  at  from  thirty  to 
forty  dollars  per  thousand  j  the  sales  amounting  perhaps 
to  ten  thousand  dollars  from  spawn  and  small  fry,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  larger  trout  which  he  sells  from  his  ponds. 

Mr.  Aiijsworth  experimented  in  fish  culture  for  recrea- 
tion, with  a  desire  to  difl^u§e  a  knowledge  of  the  art,  and  to 
introduce  it  as  a  new  industry,  and  does  not  follow  it  for 
any  profit  it  affords.  Still,  with  his  small  supply  of  an  inch 
of  variable  water,  he  assures  me  he  could  have  sold  five 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  spawn  and  small  fry  every  year, 
if  he  had  applied  himself  with  that  object.  He  has 
generally  refused  to  sell  spawn,  unless  the  object  of  promo- 
ting fish  culture  induced  him  So  his  sales  have  varied 
from  a  hundred  to  five  hu  ii  ^<^  collars  per  annum.  In 
the  mean  time,  in  a  quiet  way,  he  has  stocked  streams 
and  ponds  without  remuneration.  From  his  largest  pond, 
which  contains  about  fifteen  hundred  trout  of  various  sizes, 
he  has  this  spring  taken  two  or  three  messes  every  week — 
eno^h  for  his  family,  and  a  dozen  men  who  are  employed 
in  his  Dttrsmies.  He  t  tkes  them  all  (^from  three-quarters 
t«  a  pound  avd  a  half),  with  the  artificial  fly.  When  food- 
mg  them,  they  ame  so  tame  that  they  will  allow  r  lady,  who 
is  his  neighbor,  to  ift  them  from  the  water,  and  appear  to 
like  to  Iw  fondled.  I  have  just  returned  (May  20th)  from 
a  fishing  excursion,  wiijre  I  met  him  by  appointment,  and 
he  gave  nm  these  items  ve?  bally. 

In  the  town   of  Spring    Water   (I    think,   in   Ontario 


TROUT  BREEDING. 

county),  New  Y„,i,  ,  few  yea„  ,i„„e,  a  farmer  „w„i„.  eh, 

«trea„  at  ^aU  e.pe„«e,  and  ,„,<,  the  property,  whoh 
oo,t  h.n.  two  or  three  thousand  doliars,  for  ten  thol^  d 
o  wonderfu,,,  had  the  trout  increased  b,  natura.  p^ 
t.on  .„  a  few  years,  that  the  place,  otherwise  of  littl  vake 
commanded  this  price  for  ite  fi,h.  ' 

On  Long  Island,  near  the  city  „f  New  York,  a  person 
culfvates  trout  and  allows  anglers  to  fish  his  ;„„dT 
P-o  per  day.      His  income  from  this  source        ahl 

--.-«veh„„dredd„,larspera„„um,soIamior:  ' 
T  .e  amount  of  h,s  sales  from  young  feh  for  stocUug  the 
^™ds  of  gentlemen,  who  leer  «.ese  preserves  for  flyVs  . 

York   Tnbnne,  reads.-   "  J 0.000  Live  Tr„ut.-Po„ds  o„ 
Lng  Island,  or  no.  New  York  City,  stocked  with  li 
Book  Trout  of  one  year's  growth.     Address  Wm.  Nic  o 
W.P,  New  York...     I  „ould  say  that  trout  of  one  vea 

ro!;r„r""-"""^''^-^-^™«--po--n' 

Mr.  Ainsworth,  in  a  letter  to  the  Vermont  Fish  Commis 
"T;  ''™  °"  "'™"'»  "'■  "■«  P^fi*"  -".ieh  may  be  de 

As  h.s  figures  have  connection  with  the  description  of  the 
o^s  and  hoth  would  ocoupy  s.  eral  pages,  [...ust  ol 

tI:  t ,      "'":  '"■  ""'  '"''°  ^'"'"^  -■"  «~-e  from  it. 
The  following  „  „  esti™te  of  my  „w„,  hased  on  my 

"per.onoe  ■„  feeding  curds.     The  „,.n,bcr  of  trout  is  t!!o 

F 


82 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


same  as  those  intended  to  be  raised  in  the  ponds  of  my 
friend  Comfort,  described  on  a  preceding  page,  using  round 
numbers. 

Food — Curd  for  one  Year. 

Pond  No.  1 — 10,000  yearling,  3  quarts  per  day. 

Pond  No  "Z—  8,000  two  year  old,      6      "        »       " 
Pond  No.  3—  7,000  three  year  old,  12      "        "      «' 


21  X  4c.  per  quart  =  84c.  X  365  = 
Attendant's  wages 


Annual  Sales  after  the  Third  Year. 


=  $.306.60 
400.00 

$700.00 


7000  trout  from  pond  No.  3,  1  lb.  each,  7000  lbs.  76c.  per  lb.,  $5260.00 


Sales  of  small  fry,  3,000  yearlings  lOc, 

3,000  three  or  four  months  old  5c., 
60,000  eggs,  $8  per  1000, 

Deduct  food  and  attendance  as  above, 


300.00 
150.00 
400  00 

6100.00 
706.60 

$5393.40 


An  intelligent  lad  of  fourteen,  under  the  direction  of  an 
experienced  person,  can  manage  hatching-house  and  ponds, 
and  not  occupy  more  than  half  of  his  time.  Such  a  lad 
can  generally  be  found  amongst  the  sons  or  lads  employed 
by  c  farmer.  In  addition  to  the  curd,  the  offal  of  the  kit- 
chen, and  livers  and  lungs  of  animals  killed  on  the  farm,  as 
I  have  before  said,  can  be  used  to  hasten  the  growth. 

The  foreman  of  a  tannery  near  Lehigh  Gap,  on  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  last  summer  sold  to  a  fish  dealer  a 
number  of  large  trout,  which  he  had  kept  in  a  rapitlly 
growing  condition  by  feeding  them  on  the  fleshings  of 
hides. 

I  give  these  few  instances  of  fish  culture  paying,  as  they 
have  come  under  my  observation,  or  as  they  have  been 


TBODT  BHEEDINO.  g, 

Wd  to  n,e  by  others,  a„d  this  is  all  I  can  do,  as  it  is  jet 
a  branch  of  industry,  which  I  n,ight  say,  is  "  i„  emb,yo;" 
but  r  a™  so  well  convinced  of  the  profltobleness  of  a  lar^ 
and  well-organized  system,  that  I  am  about  engaging  iolt 
aga,„  with  Mr,  A.  J.  Beaumont,  near  New  Hope,  Bucks 
county,  Penna.    Mr.  Beaumont  has  a  spring  on  his  property 
known  as  the  Ingham  Spring,  which  flows  about,  or  over^ 
three  thousand  gallons  per  minute.     I  have  alluded  to  it 
m  a  note  at  the  bottom  of  a  preceding  page.     He  has  ample 
room  and  favorable  ground  for  the  ponds,  and  I  d„  „„t 
thu,k  .t  at  all  unlikely  with  such  advantages,  that  twenty- 
five  or  th,rty  thousand  trout,  averaging  a  pound,  can  be 
taken  from  the  third,  or  it  may  he  a  fourth  pond,  after  the 
enterprise  has  been  in  operation  three  or  four  years      Of 
eourse,  the  question  of  food  is  the  most  important.      In 
th>s  connection,  I  would  remark,  that  Mr.  Ainsworth  told 
me  a  few  days  ago,  that  he  kept  an  account  of  the  expense 
of  feeding  h>,  fifteen  hundred  fish  on  beefs  liver  for  one 
year,  and  that  the  amount  so  expended  was  only  seven 
do  lars  and  a  half     But  in  his  neighborhood,  he  can  buy 
.  beefs  l,«r  fo,  .en  cents.     He  fed  his  trout  two  liver" 
per  week  as  a  gen.ra,  rule,  chopping  up  a  quart  or  so  for 
aoh  meal,  hut  in  extremely  wa™  weather  L  in  winte 
he  gave  It  to  them  but  sparingly  . 

that  rout  kep.  ,n  ponds  will  aver^^e  a  pound,  when  a  few 
month.,  over  three  years  old,  if  well  fed,  I  am  confident 
from  my  own  experience,  that  the  allowance  of  curd  just 
g.von,  for  the  different  ages,  will  produce  that  weight 


84 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Still,  they  are  like  pigs  in  more  respects  than  in  greediness 
in  their  disposition  to  eat  offal,  for  their  increase  in  flesh  will 
be  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  food  given.  A  respect- 
able old  gentleman,  who,  I  think,  would  not  "  fib,"  tells 
me  he  has  had  them  of  four  pounds,  when  as  many  years 
old ;  but  they  had  the  run  of  the  spring-house,  receiving 
many  a  spoonful  of  cream  thrown  to  them  in  removing 
moats,  much  curd,  many  worms  which  his  boys  fed  to  them, 
and  the  whole  population  of  many  a  big  catterpillar's  nest 
cut  from  a  limb  in  his  orchard ;  as  well  as  young  wasps  and 
hornets.  Per  contra  to  this,  a  trout  will  live  in  the  bottom 
of  a  well,  or  in  a  spring,  without  being  fed,  for  years,  and 
show  no  growth.  In  stocking  my  ponds  in  New  Jersey, 
several  of  my  trout  received  unmistakable  marks,  which 
they  never  got  rid  of;  two  of  these,  which  were  not  over 
eight  or  nine  inches  long,  and  not  over  five  or  six  ounces 
in  weight,  grew,  on  the  amount  of  curd  already  mentioned, 
to  thirteen  inches  in  length  before  they  had  been  in  their 
adopted  home  a  year.  They  were  very  stout,  and  doubt- 
less weighed  a  pound.  Here  the  weight  was  more  than 
doubled  in  a  year.  Mr.  Ainsworth  stocked  a  pond  near 
West  Bloomfield,  New  York,  with  fry  as  soon  as  the  um- 
bilical sac  was  absorbed,  and  three  years  after  caught  them, 
weighing  two  pounds.  In  stocking  a  pond  for  angling,  on 
Long  Island,  a  fn'end  of  the  writer  bought  yearling  trout 
not  over  five  inches  long;  the  following  spring,  say  in 
twelve  months,  they  were  about  eleven  inches  long,  weigh- 
ing a  full  half-pound ;  in  twelve  months  more,  they  had 
grown  to  average  fourteen  ounces,  some  of  them  weighed 


TROUT  BREEDINa.  «« 

»or»  than  .  p„„„d.    As  a  fi.h  i„„r.aaos  in  «zo,  it,  p„. 
P^.s.ty  for  further  growth  also  increases.     A  young  salin 
.tar.  or  sou.etiu,es  even  at  two  .ears  old,  L  no^ 
«,gh  three  ounces,  u  goes  to  sea  and  frequently  returns' 
m  su  weeks,  or  at  least  the  following  summer,  a  fish  from 
hree  to  e.ght  pounds.     The  abundant  and  nutritious  food 
burned  at  sea  causes  this  wonderful  growth ;  if  i, ;.  p,e. 
vented  from  go.ng  to  sea,  it  does  not  grow,,  „,<„,  ,L„ 
twelve  mches,  or  three^quarte.  of  a  pound,  in  a  year  from 
he  t.u.e  ,t  we,ghs  three  ounces.     Thus  .n  abundance  oT 
food  causes  a  rapid  growth. 

The  enemies  of  larger  trout  in  stock  ponds,  are  fish- 
hawks  and  ,ight.herons.  Water-frogs,  snakes,  and  du^  , 
may  also  be  iestruotive  to  the  fry  when  «rst  turned  out  of 

m  "^'^'  ""  '""'  ""^  "'  "<"-•    A  duck  also 

'!■  r^'-^-    ^  f'°e,  in  solemn  silence,  waits  for 

he.r  approach  to  shallow  wa,.r  amongst  grass  or  weeds, 
and  pounces  upon  them.     The  little  king-fisher  may  also 
eapture  some.    But  the  foe  which  it  is  the  most  difficult 
^protect  the  fish  from,  is  the  species  of  heron  alluded  to. 
Though  not  numerous,  these  wading  birds,  when  they  have 
ound  a  feedmg  place  so  well  stocked,  may  come  for  maJy 
.uccess.ve  evenin,.,  and  prey  upon  the  trout.     Other  ene 
mies  are  more  easily  provided  against 

estabhshment,  where  fish  culture,  it  might  be  said,  was 
■naugurated,  is  from  Bertram's  -■  Harvest  of  the  Seas." 
The  senes  of  buildings  erected  at  Huningue,  a.e 


86 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


admirably  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed. The  group  forms  a  square,  the  entrance  portion  of 
which — two  lodges — is  devoted  to  the  corps  de  garde,  and 
the  centre  has  been  laid  out  as  a  kind  of  shrubbery,  and  is 
relieved  with  two  little  ponds  containing  fish.  The  whole 
establishment,  ponds  and  buildings,  occupies  a  spaco  of 
eighty  acres.  The  suite  of  buildings  comprise  at  the  side, 
two  great  hatching-gallerieu,  60  metres  in  length,  and  9 
metres  broad,  containing  a  plentiful  supply  of  tanks  and 
egg-boxes ;  and  in  the  back  of  the  square  are  the  library, 
laboratory,  and  the  residence  of  the  ofiScers.  Having 
minutely  inspected  the  whole  apparatus,  I  particularly 
admired  the  aptitude  by  which  the  means  to  a  certain  end 
had  been  carried  out.  The  egg-boxes  are  raised  in  pyra- 
mids, the  water  flowing  from  the  one  on  the  top,  into  those 
immediately  below.  The  grand  agent  in  the  hatching  of 
fish-eggs  being  water,  I  was  naturally  enough  rather  par- 
ticular in  making  inquiry  into  the  water-supplies  of  Hun- 
ingue,  and  these  I  found  are  very  ample ;  they  are  derived 
from  three  sources — the  springs  on  the  private  grounds  oi 
the  establishment,  the  Rhine,  and  the  Augraben  stream. 
The  water,  of  the  higher  springs  is  directed  towards  the 
building  through  an  underground  conduit,  while  those 
rising  at  a  lower  level  are  used  only  in  small  basins  and 
trenches,  for  the  experiments  in  rearing  fish  outside. 
Being  uncovered,  however,  they  are  easily  frozen,  and 
besides,  are  frequently  muddy  and  troubled.  As  a  general 
rule,  fish  are  not  bred  at  Huningue,  the  chief  business  ac- 
complished there,  being  the  collection  and  distribution  of 


TROUT  BREEDING.  gy 

their  eggs;  but  Uhere  is  a  large  supply  of  tanks  or  troughs, 
for  the  purpose  of  experimenting  with  such  fish  as  may  be' 
kept  in  the  place.     The  waters  of  the  Rhine  being  at  a 
higher  level  than  the  springs,  can  be  employed  in  the 
appareih  and  basins.     The  waters  of  the  Augraben  stream 
which  cross  the  ground,  are  of  little  use.     Nearly  dry  in 
summer,  rapid  and  muddy  after  rain,  they  have  only  hith- 
erto  served  to  supply  some  small  exterior  basins.      Of 
course,  different  qualities  of  water  are  quite  necessary  for 
the  success  of  experiments  in  acclimatization  carried  on  so 
zealously  at  this  establishment.     Some  fish  delight  in  a 
clear  running  stream,  while  others  prefer  to  pass  their  life 
in  sluggish  and  fat  waters.     The  engineering  of  the  differ- 
ent  water-supplies,  all  of  them  at  different  levels,  has  been 
effectually  accomplished  by  M.  Coomes,  the  engineer  of  this 
department  of  the  Rhine,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Pro- 
fessor Coste,  planned  the  buildings  at  Huningue ;  indeed 
the  machinery  of  all  kinds  is  as  nearly  as  possible,  perfect. 
''  The  course  of  business  at  Huningue  is  as  follows :  The 
eggs  are  brought  chiefly  from  Switzerland  and  Germany, 
and  embrace  those  of  the  various  kinds  of  trout,  the  Danubl 
and  Rhine  salmon,  and  the  tender  ombre  chevalier.*    Peo- 
ple are  appointed  to  capture  gravid  fish  of  these  various 
kinds,  and   having   done   so,   to^  communicate   with   the 
authorities  at  Huningue,  who  at' once  send  an  expert  to 
deprive  the  fishes  of  their  spawn  and  bring  it  to  the  breed- 
ing  or  store  boxes,  when  it  is  carefully  tended  and  daily 

*An  exceedingly  fine  species  of  largo  laio  charr,  one  of  the 
genus  sahno. 


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AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


watched  till  it  is  ready  to  be  despatched  to  some  district  in 
want  of  it." 

After  describing  the  manipulation  of  fish  to  procure  the 
ova,  and  discussing  the  probabilities  of  exhausting  the 
streams  of  Germany  and  Switzerland  by  receiving  such  large 
supplies  of  fish-eggs  from  them,  this  writer  continues : — 

"  It  would  scarcely  pay  to  breed  tha  commoner  fishes  of 
^he  rivers,  as  carp,  pike,  and  perch.  The  commonest  fish 
bred  at  Huningue  is  the /em,*  whilst  the  most  expensive  is 
the  beautiful  ombre  chevalier,  the  eggs  of  which  coat  about 
a  penny  each  before  they  are  in  the  water  as  fish.  The 
general  calculation,  however,  appertaining  to  the  operations 
carried  on  at  Huningue,  gives  twelve  living  fish  for  a  penny. 
The  fera  is  very  prolific,  yielding  its  eggs  in  thousands ;  it 
is  called  the  herring  of  the  lakes,  and  the  young,  when 
first  born,  are  so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  perceptible  .... 
I  inquired  particularly  as  to  the  Danube  salmon,  but  found 
that  it  was  very  difficult  to  hatch,  especially  at  first,  great 
numbers  of  the  eggs,  as  many  sometimes  as  60  or  70  per 
cent.,  being  destroyed;  but  now  the  manipulators  are 
getting  better  acquainted  with  the  modus  opsrandi,  and  it 
is  expected,  by  and  by,  that  the  assistants  at  Huningue 
will  be  as  successful  with  this  fish  as  they  are  with  all 
others.  .  .  ." 

"  Up  to  the  season  of  1863-64,  the  total  number  of  fresh- 
water fish-eggs  distributed  from  Huningue,  was  far  above 
1 10,000,000,  and  nearly  half  of  these  were  of  the  finer 
kinds  of  fishj  there  being  no  le.ss  than  41,000,000  of  the 

r—  ■  I.  J  I        I  I.    ■■     I 

*  A  species  of  Coregonus,  similar  to  our  small  Whitefiwh. 


TROUT  BREEDING.  gQ 

eggs  Of  salmon  and  trout.  Subjoined  is  a  tabular  state- 
ment of  the  fish-eggs  collected  and  distributed  at  Huningue 
for  the  season  of  1861-2. 


Speoiei. 


Connnou  Trout 
'Ireat  Lake  Trout 
Khine  tjnlinon 
Ombre  Chevalier 


Time  of 
operatioaa. 


Kura 


'i'oto! 


r  Oct.  2i  •) 
<  to  March  7  V 
I  135  days.   I 

f  Nov.  16  ) 
i  to  Dec.  25,  I 
(    39  days.   J 


Ov»  pro- 
vided. 


Lou. 


Qnantity 
despatched 
from  thees- 
tablisbment 


Retained  for 
experinic'ii 
at  Uuntnguc 


6;a82,900     2,602,400 


11,995,000 


18,377,900 


12,000 


2,614,400 


3,360,000 

9,619,000 
12,879,000 


430,600 
2,464,000 


2,884,500  I 


The  establishment  of  M.  de  Galbert  on  the  Isere  at 
Buisse,  in  the  Canton  Voiron,  is  one  of  importance.  He 
has  a  hatchingvhouse  and  a  series  of  ponds;  selling  ova  and 
young  fry,  a^  well  as  adult  £sh.  Five  years  ago,  he  could 
sell  50,000  young  fry  every  spring  or  summer,  without 
interfering  with  his  crop  of  mature  fish. 

Many  of  our  countrymen  on  their  return  from  Europe, 
speak  of  the  trout-ponds  at  Heidelberg.  The  following 
is  by  Ptof  A.  D.  Hager,  one  of  the  Vermont  Fish  Com! 
missioners. 

"  Ih  Europe  the  experiment  of  raising  fish  in  artificial 
ponds  has  been  successfully  made  in  tnany  ihstances.  One 
of  the  great  attractions  at  Heidelberg,  in  Baden,  is  the  fish 
pond  where  the  fish  are  trained  to  take  their  food  from  a 
person's  hand. 

"  Near  Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland,  Prof  Vouga  has  been 
employed  by  his  government  for  the  past  sii  years  in  pro- 


90  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

pagating  trout  artificially.  When  hatched  and  of  suitable 
size  they  are  turned  into  Lake  Neufchatel  and  the  streams 
emptying  into  it.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  to  his  establish- 
ment, he  was  greatly  enlarging  and  improving  his  ponds, 
hatching-boxes,  &c.  The  result  of  his  experiments  had 
satisfied  the  people  of  his  canton,  that  the  project  of  stock- 
ing the  lake  (a  body  of  water  twenty-eight  miles  long  and 
seven  miles  wide),  was  a  feasible  one,  and  would  richly  pay 
for  the  expense  incurred  in  rearing  the  young  fry  and 
turning  them  into  the  waters,  notwithstanding  the  people 
of  the  cantons  of  Freyburg  and  Vaud,  that  joined  upon 
the  lake,  would  also  get  a  considerable  share  of  the  mature 
fish. 

"  V/hen  we  witnessed  the  outlay  of  money  to  fit  up  the 
hatching  establishment  at  Prof  Vouga's,  and  realized  that 
it  was  done  by  a  people  numbering  Ics^  than  80,000  per- 
sons, and  in  a  territory  of  less  than  three  hundred  square 
miles,  we  could  but  contrast  that  people  with  those  of  New 
England." 

The  first  experiment  in  fish  culture  in  this  country,  from 
all  I  can  learn,  was  made  by  Dr.  Garlick  and  a  friend,  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  Owing  to  the  death  of  one  of  them,  the 
enterprise  was  abandoned  after  a  season  or  two.  Mr.  Kel- 
logg of  Hartford,  Conn.,  Mr.  Pell  of  PJsopus,  and  Mr.  Ains- 
worth  of  West  Bloomfield,  New  York,  commenced  a  few 
years  later.  Following  these,  came  Seth  Green  of  Mum- 
ford,  New  York  j  Mr.  Vnil,  of  Long  Island;  the  writer,  near 
Asbury,  New  Jersey ;  Rev.  Livingston  So.)ne,  Charleetown, 
N.    H.;    Benjajnin   Kilburno,  Littleton,  N.  H. ;    D.   G. 


TROUT  BREEDING.  gj 

Bridgman  Bellows  Fall,  Vt.;  J.  S.  Eobin.on,  Meredith, 
N.  H.;  J^ge  Tildeo,  Loekport,  N.  Y.;  P.  H.  Christie, 
Clove,  Dutchess  ceuMy,  N.  Y.;  J„e„iah  Comfort,  nea^ 
Sprmg  Mills,  Montgomery  eounty,  Pa.,  and  others 

Mr.    Amsworth   eommeaced    nine  years  ago,   with  a 
d.m>nut,ve  supply  of  water  eoUeot^d  from  a  dozen  or  so  of 
small  springs  in  his  nursery  of  fruit  trees.     Leading  these 
through  glazed  tiles  underground  to  a  reservoir,  he  obtained 
..areely  water  enough  to  fill  a  hole  an  ineh  in  diameter,  and 
that,  of  exeeedingly  variable  temperature,  in  winter,  only 
»  few  degrees  above  freezing  point,  and  in  summer,  qui,; 
warm.     Mr.  A.'s  mind  is  partieularly  constituted  ^rex- 
pernnent  and  analysis ;  with  this  imperfeet  supply  of  water, 
he  has  unwear,edly  pursued  L.  objeet  of  making  fi,h  eul- 
u  e  a  b.auoh  of  national  industry,  and  may  be  considered 
the  father  of  t^  seience  in  this  country.     The  following 
nofce,  taken  fr.m  the  Rochester  Democrat  of  May,  1862 
shows  what  progress  he  had  made  at  that  time,  and  gives  1 
tolerably  accurate  account  of  his  little  establishment, 
^n  Mtraclion  in  the  Country-Vi^u  to  a  Trout  Pond 

"T;  "":  ""''"'""•  -""  ^  «="  ^^y^  -»-.  that  within 
twe  ty  rndes  of  this  city  there  is  a  trout-pond  in  which 
sport  hundreds  of  the  speckled  beauties,  fed  every  day  by 
the  generous  and  enterprising  proprietor  with  as  much 
«8»lanty  and  care,  as  he  feeds  his  horses  and  cattle 
Having  been  posted  upon  the  subject,  and,  moreover' 
hav,ng  been  summoned  by  a  polite  but  pressing  invitation,' 

Chap";  rr y "''-'• '" ''°'"''»»^«'"' !-»- 

Chapm,  is,,.,  to  the  v.Uage  of  West  Bloomfield,  and  with- 


92 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


out  delay  reportecl  ourselves  to  the  Hon.  Stephen  H.  Ains- 
worth,  whom  we  found  at  his  hospitable  mansion,  in  the 
quiet  and  pleasant  village  aforesaid.     Mr.  Ainsworth  is  by 
no  means  a  novice  in  anything  pertaining  to  the  tastes  or 
the  wants  of  the  disciples  of  Isaac  Walton.     Hence,  while 
aporeciating  the  anxiety  of  his  visitors  to  hasten  to  his 
trout-pond,  he  was  thoughtful  enough  to  feed  his  guests 
before  he  did  his  fishes,  and  we  can  testify  that  he  does 
both  with  a  liberality  which  always  characterizes  the  large- 
hearted  man.     And  while  waiting  a  few  moments  for  the 
coming  demonstration  of  hospitality,  there  was  just  time  to 
look  at  a  small  part  of  Mr.  Ainsworth's  horticultural  depart- 
ment."   He  has  over  one  hundred  varieties  of  grapes — 
among  them,  the  choicest  to  be  procured  anywhere — pears, 
peaches,  and  all  other  fruits  grown  in  this  region,  in  the 
greatest  variety  and  profusion.     And  we  are  pleased  to 
know,  that  within  a  few  y^ats,  his  industry  atad  enterprise 
have  been  generously  rewarded,  by  returns  which  consti- 
tute a  fortune,  which  we  hope  he  and  his  amiable  family 
may  long  enjoy. 

"  The  inner  man  refreshed,  it  Was  quick  work  to  prepare 
for  a  visit  to  the  trout-pond,  situated  a  short  distance  from 
Mr.  Ainsworth's  residence.  Besides  the  usual  food  for  the 
trout,  Mr.  Ainsworth  produced  a  fly  and  a  bait  rod,  reels 
and  lines,  with  permission  to  do  what  he  had  scarcely  be- 
fore done  for  himself— take  enough  trout  for  a  generous 
mess.  The  pond  covers  something  oVer  sixty  rods  of 
ground,  and  is  filled  by  conducting  the  water  from  thirteen 
different  springs  in  tile  laid  under  ground,  and  brought  into 


TROUT  BREEDINO.  gg 

poob  a  short  distance  above  the  p„„d.  IVo„.  thenee  it 
Sows  over  a  prepared  bed  of  gravel  to  the  pond.  Perhaps 
one  »an  m  a  million  „igfc,  h„,  ,^„^^^^  ^^^^  ^  J 

and  above  all,  a  place  for  speckled  trout,  could  have  been 
made  .„  the  spot  where  this  is  located.    The  water  is  four- 
teen  feet  deep  i„  the  n,ain  pond,  and  this  depth  has  been 
secured  by  e„avatio„-the  original  depression  being  ve,^ 
shght,  although  the  spot  was  swampy  and  of  little  valne 
As  a  means  of  saving  every  drop  of  the  small  supply  of 
water,  two  parallel  walls  have  been  built  around  the  pond 
sunk  .nto  the  blue  clay,  and  the  space  between  them' 
g^uted,  so  that  not  a  drop  is  wasted  e.cept  by  solar  evapo- 

te  afford  h,d.„g.p,aoes  for  the  trout  whenever  they  choose 
te^ret  re  from  the  hot  sun.    In  this  respect,  Mr.  Absworth 
has  studied  the  habits  of  his  finny  stock,  and  as  far  as  he 
oould,  compensated  them  for  removing  them  from  their 
nat,ve  streams  in  Victor,  Springwater,  and  other  places, 
where  they  were  captured.     The  walls  around  the  pond 
are  carr.ed  te  the  height  it  is  intended  the  water  shall 
reach,  and  then  a  sufficient  quantity  of  earth  placed  over 
them  te  snstam  shade  trees,  a  large  number  of  which     e 
«  a  thnfty  condition.     The  water    omes  inte  and  p. 
..m  te       d  through  fine  sieves,  through  which  notMng 
out  the  water  can  pass.  ° 

"Inside  of  the  paraJlel  walls  there  is  a  slope  wall,  and 
::  *^  '°-  "■"  ^"""^  -odes  in  an  direetfons,  so  th" 
osurfteew^teris  washed  into  the  pond.     In  plac^  wber 
"  "  '''"'^  *"  '"^"^  *»»  '""S  it  is  carried  off  by  tiling. 


i 


94  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

Altogether,  it  is  a  perfect  gem.  Nothing  has  been  ne- 
glected, and  those  who  have  the  facilities,  the  good  taste, 
and  the  enterprise  to  follow  Mr.  Ainsworth's  example, 
would  be  greatly  aided  by  paying  him  a  visit.  Re  will,  we 
run  no  risk  in  assuming,  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  them 
the  benefit  of  his  experience. 

"  It  is,  so  far  as  we  are  advised,  an  unsettled  matter  how 
many  fish  can  live  in  a  given  quantity  of  water.  Mr.  Ains- 
worth  has  placed  nearly  eleven  hundred  trout  in  his  pond, 
and  some  additions  have  been  made  by  the  process  of  arti- 
ficial fecundation;  and  this  process  he  will  continue  to 
follow  until  his  pond  is  sufficiently  stocked.  If  it  were 
possible  to  protect  all  the  spawn  deposited  by  the  small 
number  of  trout  now  left  in  our  streams,  we  should  quickly 
see  them  restocked  to  their  full  capacity.  But  it  is  known 
that  even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  only  a 
few  of  the  eggs  hatch,  and  of  those  which  do,  much  of  the 
product  is  devoured  by  snakes,  water-fowl,  and  the  larger 
fish.  It  would  be  a  very  easy  matter  to  resort  to  artificial 
fecundation,  by  which  an  immense  quantity  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  delicate  fish  known  in  American  waters  could 
be  raised. 

"  But  to  the  sport.  Both  bait  and  fly  were  taken  the 
instant  they  touched  the  water,  and  had  a  hundred  hooks 
been  upon  each  line,  each  one  would  have  had  its  victim. 
They  were  of  various  sizes  when  put  into  the  pond  two 
years  ago.  Those  of  three  years,  are  now  plump  pounders. 
A  majority  are  of  three-fourths  and  half  a  pound.  Mr. 
Ainsworth  knows  their  ages  as  well  as  he  does  those  of  his 


1 


95 


TROUT  BREEDING. 

oolts  and  oattle.    In  swift  running  water,  however,  the, 
do  not  grow  as  rapidly-thoy  are  longer  and  leas  pl«n,p 
There  are  a  few  two  and  three  pounders,  but  here  as  in 
other  waters,  these  seldom  honor  the  angler's  hook  with  . 
mbble.    Of  course  we  could  not  think  of  following  up  the 
sport  for  only  a  few  minutes-just  long  enough  to  try  the 
game  „f  the  ten  noble  fellows  which  were  seen  in  the  show 
wndow  of  the  Arcade  House  yesterday.     And  they  were 
game     Every  one  of  them  made  the  rod  bend  and  tremble. 
The  females  were  invariably  returned  to  the  water     But 
more  editing  sport  remained.    The  food  for  their  evening 
repast  was  now  dealt  out  by  spoonfuls  at  a  time,  and  the 
moment  it  struck  the  water,  dozens  of  great  fellows  darted 
tor  It     They  knocked  against  one  another  under  the  water 
and  above  the  water,  and  a  person  standing  close  to  the 
edge  would,  in  five  minutes,  be  well '  spattered'  from  head 
to  feet.      The  'whipping,  had  made  them  a  little  more 
shy  than  usual,  but  they  will  feed  from  the  hand  of  their 
owner,  and  leap  from  the  water  when  shown  their  food 
upon  a  spoon ! 

"  Mr.  Ainsworth  is  a  public  benefactor  in  what  he  has 
done.     While  constructing  and  filling  a  pond,  at  a  large 
e.pend,t„re,  for  his  own  amusement  and  gratification,  he 
has  demonstrated  the  fact  tha^  under  ciroumstances  more 
favorable  as  regards  water  and  places  fbr  making  ponds 
.mnjense  quantities  of  the  most  delicious  food  can  be  raised 
at  almost  a  nominal  cost.     When  this  country  becomes  as 
populous  as  France,  such  advantages  as  we  possess  for  the 
Propagation  of  fish  will  be  appreciated  and  improve.). 


96 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Until  then,  we  can  only  hope  to  see  here  and  there  a 
liberal  and  public-spirited  citizen  like  Mr.  Ainsworth  set 
the  example. 

*'  We  will  only  add,  that  an  evening  pleasantly  spent  in 
the  family  of  our  friend,  a  refreshing  sleep,  an  early  break- 
fast, and  a  ride  of  twenty  miles,  ended  this  delightful  ex- 
cursion to  the  country." 

The  following  extract  from  an  article  on  fish  culture, 
which  appeared  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  in  January 
1866,  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Ainsworth,  and  will  give  the 
reader  a  general  idea  of  Seth  Green's  establishment  and 
Caledonia  creek. 

"  The  most  prolific  stream  for  trout  that  I  have  ever  seen, 
or  of  which  I  have  ever  heard  or  read,  are  the  Caledonia 
Springs,  and  brook  from  them.  This  celebrated  trout 
brook  rises  from  the  rocks  in  the  village  of  Caledonia, 
Livingston  county.  New  York.  Its  whole  length  is  but  one 
mile,  when  it  unites  with  Allen's  creek,  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Genesee,  in  the  village  of  Mumford.  The 
stream  falls  about  50  feet  from  the  springs  to  its  junction 
with  Allen's  creek.  The  country  is  all  thickly  settled,  and 
one  of  the  richest  and  best  farming  towns  in  the  state. 
The  surface  of  the  land  is  quite  level,  with  banks  but  little 
above  the  surface  of  the  water. 

"  The  stream  in  places  is  very  rapid,  and  in  others  has 
quite  a  gentle  current,  of  a  mile  or  more  per  hour.  The 
springs,  as  now  situated,  cover  about  six  acres,  being 
dammed  slightly  for  milling  purposes.  They  afford  about 
80  barrels  of  water  per  second,  and  make  a  creek  from 


TBOHT  BKEBDINQ. 

three  to  fo„  ^da  wide,  and  from  18  ioohes  to  6  feet  deep' 

the  „1.  .  ten.perat«re  at  the  spring,  i,  48» 

i:      if" '"""?"'  """»  *'  -'-^.  three^ua^el 

by  night,  but  It  IS  down  in  the  morning  to  52'     T„  „•  . 
it  settles  at  times  t„  doo  i,  .  '"8  «»  »^  •    In  winter 

ve  y  even  the  year  round,  but  very  cold  in  summer,  and 

Z  isa,         Vr"  ''"''''  ^'"'''  "''^■''■"'  Wade  of 
and  Jarva>  of  fl.es,  summer  and  winter,  so  that  the  trout 
hwever  numerous  they  are,  easily  obtain  all  the  f J  te  ' 
want  all  times  of  the  year.  ^ 

"There  is  but  veiy  little  surface  water  that  males  into 
the  ereet  hence  the  volume  of  the  water  is  very  even  and 
-Idem  roily.     The  first  settlers  of  the  countr/f    „d  1 
oreek  hterally  filled  with  trout  of  great  size      7. 
ami  ;+  I,  •     .  ^       ®^^®  ^^^  beauty, 

and  It  has  remained  so  to  this  day,  notwithstanding  it  ll 
hee„  almost  constantly  fished,  night  as  well  as  day  fr I 

Dart  niV  rtf.    I  '''"  °"''"'^'  '"''»  "  *^-^  »"'"■ 
often   hoed  with  fishermen,  when  they  reel  in  the 

«*  G 


98  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

speckled  beauties,  hand  over  hand,  and  often  carry  them 

oflF  by  back  loads.     In  this  way  they  sometimes  take  them 

that  weigh  four  pounds  each.     The  most  ordinary  pupil  of 

Isaac  Walton  can  take  them  in  the  evening,  when  in  the 

mood  of  rising,  with  the  right  miller,  and  with  a  small  piece 

of  angle  worm  on  the  point  of  the  hook,  to  induce  thorn  to 

hold  on  to  the  hook  till  the  novice  can  make  his  twitch  to 

hook  them.     But  in  the  day-time  none  can  succeed  but  the 

expert.     The  water  is  so  dear,  and  they  are  so  shy  and  so 

well  educated,  that  it  requires  a  50  or  60  foot  line,  a  fine 

10  foot  leader,  and  very  small  flies,  or  hackles,  and  those 

must  be  cast  upon   the  water  so  gently  and  life-like,  to 

induce  them  to  rise  and  take  the  fly,  and  when  they  do 

take  it  they  discover  the  deception,  and  spit  it  out  so  quick 

that  but  very  few  are  ever  able  to  so  cast  the  fly  and  to 

jerk  quick  enough  to  hook  them.     The  fishermen  among 

the  oldest  inhabitants  tell  me  that  at  the  least  calculation 

there  are  4000  pounds  of  trout  taken  from  the  creek  yearly, 

and  yet  they  compute  the  number  of  trout  to-day  at  1000  to 

each  rod  of  the  stream,  or  320,000  in  the  creek,  of  all  sizes, 

from  four  or  five  pounds  down  to  five  inches  in  length. 

On  the  18th  of  this  month  I  took  110  fine  trout  in  about 

three  hours,  with  the  fly,  from  the  creek,  and  put  them 

into  one  of  Mr.  Green's  ponds.     The  day  was  clear,  and 

the  water  so  clear  and  transparent  that  I  had  to  fish  with 

a  60-foot  line,  which  took  the  most  of  the  time  to  get  the 

line  out  to  this  length  and  to  reel  in  the  trout  against  the 

strong  current  after  being  hooked. 

"The  next  day  I  took  85  splendid   fellows  from  one 


I 


TROUT  BREEDING.  99 

place,  hardly  moving  from  my  tracks.  These  facts  show 
how  plenty  they  were,  and  how  ready  they  are  to  take  the 
fly  in  winter.  These  trout  were  as  fat,  active,  and  gamey 
as  ever  I  saw  them  in  any  other  stream  in  May  or  June. 

"  Seth  Green,  Esq.,  the  celebrated  marksman  and  fly- 
thrower  of  Rochester,  bought  this  creek  a  year  ago  last 
fall,  for  the  purpose  of  growing  trout  artificially  as  well  as 
naturally  on  an  extensive  scale.  Pie  has  since  prepared 
ponds,  races,  hatching-house  and  hatching-boxes,  and 
troughs  for  3,000,000  of  spawn,  which  he  expects  to  fill 
during  the  spawning  season,  which  is,  with  him,  from  the 
1st  of  November  to  the  1st  of  April.  Last  winter  his  tv.  g 
best  months  for  spawn  were  January  and  February,  and 
he  expects  they  will  be  this  year. 

"  He  has  one  pond,  only  75  feet  long,  12  feet  wide  and 
5  feet  deep,  that  has  9000  trout  in  it  from  9  inches  to  20 
inches  long,  that  will  weigh  from  a  quarter  of  a  pound  to 
three  pounds  each,  all  as  fat  as  seals  and  as  beautiful  as 
trout  can  possibly  be,  all  caught  with  the  fly,  by  his  own 
hand,  since  he  bought  the  creek,  and  all  can  be  seen  now, 
any  day,  at  one  view,  by  any  person  who  will  take  thi 
trouble  to  call  on  him.  Only  think  what  a  sight— 9000 
such  trout  all  in  the  eye  at  once !  What  a  gigantic  and 
magnificent  aquarium ! 

^'  I  am  certain  that  this  is  the  largest  and  finest  exhibi- 
tion of  trout  in  America,  and,  probably,  in  the  whole 
world.  This  alone  would  well  pay  a  journey  of  any  lover 
of  Walton  from  any  part  of  the  country  to  see.  But  this 
is  not  all.     He  has  another  pond,  right  by  the  side  of  this, 


100 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


80  by  60  het,  which  contains  20,000  beautiful  trout, 
mostly  one  ai>d  two  years  old,  from  six  to  nine  inches  long, 
all  taken  by  his  uwn  skill,  as  above.  He  has  still  another 
pond,  filled  with  last  spring's  fry,  ^om  three  to  five  inches 
long. 

"  It  seems  incredible  at  first  thought  that  such  a  vast 
number  of  large  trout  could  live  in  so  small  a  space,  but 
it  is  all  accounted  for  and  made  plain,  whch  one  learns 
that  the  water  in  the  ponds  is  changed  every  minute 
through  the  day  by  the  large  current  constantly  pouring  iu 
upon  them  of  this  cold,  pure  spring  water. 

"  Some  of  the  trout  produced  6000  spawn  each,  and 
from  that  down  to  200,  according  to  siz-^.  Last  year  Mr. 
Green  hatched  ae  high  as  98  per  cent,  iu  some  instaaGes — 
in  others,  about  80  per  cent.  This  year  he  expects  to 
hatch  nearly  all,  as  he  has  become  master  of  the  business, 
and  knows  the  right  time  to  take  the  spawn  to  insure  per- 
fect imprc;,nation.  I  could  see  the  young  trout  in  almost 
every  egg  that  had  been  taken  fifteen  days,  with  the  naked 
eye,  so  ihut  I  know  his  success  is  pe.fect  so  far.  With 
this  continued  success  he  will  very  soon  be  able  to  stock 
all  (he  private  streams  and  ponda  in  the  country  with  spawn 
ar.J  young  trout,  as  well  as  to  furn'«h  tons  yearly  for  the 
table  of  this,  the  most  delicious  and  costly  of  all  the  finny 
tribe." 

The  culture  of  trout  I  have  conceived  to  be  of  so  mu'ih 
importance,  that  I  have  gone  muuh  into  detail  in  every 
thing  bearing  upoii  the  subject.  It  may  perhaps  be  tire- 
dome  to  a  portion  of  my  readers,  but  my  excuse  is,  that  it 


TROUT  BrvEEDING. 


101 


is  in  these  details,  which  are  so  necessary  to  succes's  that 
most  of  the  essays  on  trout  culture  are  deficient.  As  I 
have  already  remarked,  it  is  an  industry  which  is  yet  in  its 
infancy,  and  although  I  have  given  all  the  directions  which 
have  arisen  from  Mr.  Ainsworth's  and  my  own  experience, 
and  much  that  I  have  learned  of  Seth  Green,  there  will 
still  be  additional  discoveries  in  the  minutise  of  the  art,  as 
progress  is  made  in  it. 

I  deem  it  a  branch  of  industry  that  should  claim  the 
attention  of  our  national  government.  If  the  agricultural 
bureau  has  no  discretionary  power  to  foster  it,  special  legis- 
lation  should  be  directe-;  to  it,  and  appropriations  made  for 
the  purpose  of  experiments,  and  its  promotion. 


102 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 

The  Salmon.— Its  instincts.—Difference  in  appearance  and  size 
of  those  belonging  to  different  rivers.— Their  former  abundance 
and  cause  of  decline  in  numbers.— Their  growth  and  adolescence. — 
Migrations.- Time  of  ova  hatching  in  European  and  American 
rivers.— Growth  of  the  fry,  with  illustrations.— Early  fecundity  of 
the  males.— Attempts  at  artificial  propagation  in  the  United  States. 
—Their  naturaliiation.— Fishways,  with  illustrations.  Salmon 
breeding.— At  Storniontfield— On  the  Dee.— On  the  Galway.— On 
the  Doohulla.— At  Ballisodare.— In  Australia Salmon  statistics. 

An  intimate  knowledge  of  the  instinctive  habits  of  this 
fish  is  required  in  repopulating  rivers  from  which  it  has 
been  expelled,  or  naturalizing  it  in  others.  The  most  im- 
portant instinct  in  this  connection  is,  tiiat  it  is  anadromous,* 
acquiring  its  wonderful  growth  and  excellent  flavor  at  sea 
and  visiting  its  native  rivers  for  the  purpose  of  reproducing 
its  species.  This  it  will  unerringly  do  if  no  insurmountable 
barrier  opposes  it,  nor  stop  short  of  the  pebbly  shallow 
where  it  emerged  from  the  egg.  Many  of  them  will  go 
beyond,  as  was  shown  by  their  ascending  the  fishway  at 
Lowell  on  the  Merrimack  last  summer,  and  as  I  have  wit- 
nessed  b"  observing  their  attempts  to  ascend  impassable 


*  This  term  is  applicable  to  the  shad,  salmon,  alewifo,  and  other 
fishes  that  enter  fresh  waters  to  spawn.  I  use  it  to  distinguish 
these  from  the  migratory  genera  that  live  entirely  in  salt  water. 


'^-<:\. 


■IWli'lu. 


/ 


CPLTDRE  OP  THE  SALMON.  j^j 

«alway    ,„  Ireland,  to  »,„re  than   the  feounditv  „f  it. 
Hone,  da,,;  that  M.  Cooper  has  estahHshed  ^.I    ,: 

""r:  rt^r^r  ™^  '^  '"->  *«' 

una,  a  httle  stream  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  width 
has    een  made  a  highway  for  sateen  which  now  spawn  in' 

there  ,s  a  large  .ncrease  in  the  nnmbers  of  sain,on  in  Seot- 

d  rr;  '■" ""  *"' '"'""»''  -*  '■"=  ""^  of  fi">.wt 

"    fifh  -It"-,  the  New  England  states  now  depend T 
Kstoekmg  their  salnionless  stream.     If»    •  '^°f^'" 

prevent  sataon  from  g„i„l  asTi;    "  ",""P''^»'"»  <'™ 

^   ^  *"  "'S''  as  their  native  snawn 

"g-ground  and  no  favorable  place  be  found  below  or  il  . 

tributary  entering  below,  the,  „i,|  desert  the  rive    I 

some  other.     Thus  a  few  stray  salmon  driven  off  ^^^ 

«b  tr„ct,on  or  by  some  natural  enemy  may  cn,.r  some  Iw 

ban  the,,  nat.ve  stream,  as  they  have  been  known  to  e  te 

Lowell  Of  there  are  no  spawni„g.gr„u„ds  below  on  the 
'^^^;^;;^^)^^^^h^Uen  natives  of  some  other  river 

'*"...  .•„„„  .he,  .ere  »„  .a™      ,C  1       Z^  "^  "'  "" 

veiy  nsri  had  come  back  acain    nil  fl.»  ,        i 

circuit  of  fotty  miln,  «.   .      .    ,  '  '^  "^"^  '"""«'  « 

'uny  miles  at  least,  t  iron  eh  f|,o  „..fi.i 

^"^.^at  Atlamic,  passing  ^  -....„I     •  •        ''"''"^•^'' ^«^«'-''  «f 'he 

t»-ymi,..th„;e    "    ,    ,    /        ""'  '"  »'-- Jo-ney,  up  which 
/    '<»,iii  nave  gone  had  thev  not  ovefen,-,}  t^- 


104 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


In  seeking  the  mouths  of  their  native  streams,  the 
salmon  of  two  or  more  rivers  may  pass  a  point  in  bay  or 
estuary  where  a  net  extends  from  the  shore,  and  the  catch 
may  embrace  a  portion  of  each.  When  this  occurs,  as  it 
frequently  docs  on  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  one  of  the  habitans, 
who  may  be  standing  by,  can  easily  point  out  the  fish  of 
each  river  :  this,  he  will  say,  belongs  to  the  Ristigouche, 
and  that  to  the  Nipissiguit.  The  difference  is  as  clear 
to  him,  as  the  dissimilarity  between  a  Durham  and  an 
Alderney  cow  would  be  to  one  of  our  farmers.  There  is  a 
peculiarity  in  the  formation  and  general  appearance  of  the 
salmon  of  a  river  which  is  transmitted  to  their  progeny  j 
therefore,  if  we  are  successful,  as  we  will  no  doubt  be,  in 
introducing  the  sulmon  in  our  waters,  the  fish  of  the  Con- 
necticut, in  the  course  of  some  generations,  will  differ  from 
those  of  the  Delaware.  Those  of  one  river  may  be  short 
and  thick-set,  while  those  of  the  other  may  be  long  of  body 
and  twice  the  average  size  of  the  former. 

Salmon  at  one  time,  north  of  the  Hudson,  were  not  ex- 
clusively for  the  opulent,  they  were  as  much  or  more  the 
food  of  the  poor,  because  they  were  cheap.  Even  now, 
when  in  season,  on  the  coast  and  in  the  rivers  of  the 
British  Provinces  they  can  be  bought  for  four  or  five  cents 
a  pound;  and  the  angler  from  the  States,  as  he  takes  his 
hook  from  the  mouth  of  a  pretty  ten-pounder,  on  a  stream 
of  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs  or  the  north  shore  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, turns  the  fish  over  with  the  toe  of  his  boot  and  men- 
tally says :  "  Well,  it  is  only  worth  fifty  cents,  now  that  I 
have  landed  it."     He  would  give  five,  or  even  ten  dollars, 


CULTURE  OF  ^HE  SALMON.  105 

if  he  could  lay  it,  bright  and  silvery  as  it  is,  on  the  table  of 
some  friend  at  home. 

Hendrick  Hudson,  when  he  sailed  up  the  river  that 
bears  his  name,  wrote  in  his  journal:  "Many  salmon, 
mullets,*  and  rays  very  great."  When  he  got  beyond  the 
Highlands  he  wrote  again,  «  Great  stores  of  salmon  in  the 
river."  Alas !  where  are  they  now,  or  those  that  swarmed 
in  the  lakes  and  streams  of  New  York  which  connect  with 
the  St.  Lawrence  ?  But  it  is  useless  now  to  rail  at  internal 
improvements,  chartered  companies,  and  enterprising  indi- 
viduals who  have  been  instrumental  in  banishing  them; 
our  object,  at  present,  is  to  induce  them  to  return. 

Salmon  commence  to  make  in  towards  the  rivers  from 
which  they  migrated  at  rather  a  later  period  than  shad. 
Of  course  those  of  a  more  southern  latitude  are  earlier 
comers.     On  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  for  instance,  at  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  some  are  taken  in  May,  in  June  they  are  abundant.' 
If  they  are  introduced  in  the  Hudson  and  Connecticut 
they  might,  doubtless,  be  taken  in  Long  Island  Sound  and 
iu  the  lower  bay  in  April.     They  continue   to  come  in 
schools  and  ascend  the  rivers  all  summer,  the  earlier  comers 
being  the  earlier  spawners,  while  the  late  spawners  fre- 
quently remain  in  the  river  all  winter,  and  go  to  sea  in  the 
spring.     The  latter,  as  has  been  ascertained  in  Scotland 
may  not  spawn  the  ensuing  fall,  a  period  of  two  years  ex- 
piring before  they  reproduce.    From  the  information  gained 
in  the  British  Provinces,  I  am  of  opinion  that  there  is  only 
one,  and  that  an  annual,  migration  of  the  same  fish  to  and 

*  Most  likely  shad. 


106 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


from  sea  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  This  is  necessarily 
the  case,  as  most  of  the  rivers  are  rigidly  closed  with  ice 
for  some  months,  and  many  of  them  for  half  of  the  year. 
On  the  coast  of  Great  Britain,  where  the  rivers  are  always 
open,  their  migrations  occur  nearly  every  month ;  still  there 
is  a  throng  time  v.hen  the  greater  number  enter  fresh 
waters.  Smolts  and  grilse  have  frequently  been  marked 
and  have  gone  to  sea  and  returned  in  six  or  eight  weeks. 
In  Ireland  there  are  fresh  run  foh  in  January  and  fair  fly- 
fishing in  February. 

In  the  rivers  of  the  British  Provinces  north  of  us  there 
is  also  what  may  be  termed  a  throng  time.  This,  is  gene- 
rally when  the  first  schools  come  in.  In  some  rivers  they 
are  found  at  the  lower  rapids  within  a  week  (earlier  or 
later)  of  the  middle  of  June,  and  in  others,  even  of  the 
same  latitude  or  district  of  country,  somewhat  later.  There 
are  different  "runs"  up  to  the  middle  of  September;  the 
schools  being  influenced  by  easterly  storms  to  enter  the  bay, 
and  by  a  rise  in  the  river  to  ascend.  Unlike  the  shad, 
which  are  deterred  or  driven  back  by  a  freshet,  salmon 
seem  to  delight  in  a  heavy  rise,  after  which,  there  is  always 
good  fishing  as  the  water  clears. 

When  a  school  of  salmon,  coming  from  sea,  reaches  a 
bay  or  the  mouth  of  a  river  entering  the  sea,  some  weeks 
are  occupied  in  working  up  towards  the  head  of  tide,*  the 
fish  in  the  mean  while  undergoing  a  change  of  system 
which  fits  them  fot  their  habitation  in  fresh  water.     Dur- 


*  As  the  season  advances  the  time  so  occupied  grows  shorter, 
until  only  a  few  days  are  spent  in  tide-water. 


"""^""""'^''n'^'mfmifimmmr 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SALMON.  jqj' 

ing  thi.  time  they  feed  on  smete,  sparlings,  and  otl,er  small 
fish  as  well  as  Crustacea.     After  entering  fresh  water  no 
food  .s  to  be  found  in  their  stomachs;   notwithstanding; 
they  win  rise  occasionally  at  a  natural  or  artiBcial  fly  and 
W.11  sometimes  take  a  worm  bait.    I„  their  journey  upwards 
they  generally  linger  on  the  way,  at  the  foot  of  many  a 
rap.d  or  just  aboTC,  nntil  they  reach  their  native  spawning, 
grounds  or  go  beyond.     They  lose  the  silvery  brightners 
wh.ch  they  bnng  from  sea,  and  continue  to  grow  darker  and 
fall  off  as  the  summer  advances.    A  fish  that  was  a  twenty, 
pounder,  when  fresh  run,  in  three  weeks  will  be  one  of 
seventeen  pounds,  and  so  on  to  the  time  of  spawning,  when 
they  have  lost  half  of  their  weight  and  are  scarcely  fit  for 
tood      If  their  native  water  is  some  inconsiderable  brook 
which  is  frequently  the  case,  they  will  wait  for  a  rise  or 
wnggle  over  shallows  scarcely  the  depth  of  their  bodies 
The  canoemen  who  have  attended  me  on  my  fishing  excur. 
s.ons  have  told  me  that  at  spawning  time  they  can  be  cap. 
tured  with  almost  any  kind  of  a  net;  no  donbt  persons 
whose  object  it  is  to  hatch  the  ova  in  the  States  could  then 
procure  it  in  any  quantity. 

The  spawn  of  the  salmon,  as  all  experiments  have  shown 

can  be  hatched  by  artificial  appliances  as  easily  as  the  ova 

of  our  brook  trout,  the  term  of  incubation  being  somewhat 

o»ger  m  water  of  the  same  temperature.    I  have  no  doubt 

that  m  spring  water,  uniformly  at  60°,  the  time  would 

uot  eicceed  fifty  or  sizty  days.    I„  Scotland  it  has  extended 

to    130  days,  and  in   the  almost  Arctic  winters  of  the 

British  Provinces  it  is  likely  that  six  months  or  more  is 


1 


^ 


m 


108 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


required.  The  short  time  which,  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, would  be  requisite  in  artificial  incubation  in  New 
England  and  in  the  Middle  States,  where  the  salmon  could 
be  naturalized,  would  produce  the  fry  in  winter,  and  give 
them  such  a  start  that  nearly  all  would  probably  reach  the 
smolt  state  and  go  to  sea  the  second  summer. 

In  my  remarks  in  the  "  American  Anglers'  Book,"  on 
the  time  required  to  hatch  out  salmon  ova  in  Canadian 
rivers,  I  have  alluded  to  the  fact  that  many  of  them,  where 
the  water  is  shallow  enough,  and  where  it  affords  the 
requisites  for  a  spawning-bed,  freezes  to  the  bottom ;  and 
have  inferred  from  this  that  the  eggs  do  not  (at  least  not 
all  of  them)  lose  their  vitality.  In  proof  of  this  theory,  it 
is  stated  in  the  London  "  Fisherman's  Magazine"  that  sal- 
mon ova  had  been  kept  in  ice  ninety  days,  and  that  half 
of  these  frozen  eggs  were  afterwards  hatched  out. 

When  the  young  salmon  frees  itself  from  the  shell,  it  is 
about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  long,  and  has  the  same  um- 
bilical sac  which  we  observe  in  the  fry  of  brook  trout. 
This  it  carries  for  about  six  weeks;  during  this  time  it 
refuses  all  food.  As  soon,  however,  as  this  sac  is  absorbed, 
its  predacious  instinct  is  observed,  rising  eagei-ly  at  the 
smallest  insect  or  atom,  and  seizing  animalculae  beneath  the 
surface.  In  pisciculture  the  food  of  the  fry  is  much  the 
same  as  those  of  the  trout ;  I  therefore  refer  the  reader 
to  the  directions  for  feeding  the  young  of  that  fish. 

Although  the  incubation  of  salmon  ova  is  similar  to  that 
of  he  trout  in  breeding  them  artificially,  the  manipulation 
of  the  fish  is  different  on  account  of  the  large  size  and  vigor 


f 


CULTULE  OP  THE  SALMON.  iQg 

of  the  salmon,  requiring  two  and  sometimes  three  persons 
to  perform  the  operation.     If  the  fish  is  held  pendent  by 
the  head,  the  ova,  if  mature,  will  distend  the  lower  portion 
of  the  abdomen,  and  some  of  it  flow  without  pressure;  and 
this,  from  all  we  can  learn,  is  the  position  in  which  the  sal- 
mon  is  generally  held  when  it  is  being  operated  on.     Mr. 
Francis,  however,  gives  an  illustration  of  holding  one  some- 
what horizontally,  with  the  vent  beneath  the  water  of  the 
basin,  and  raising  the  head  and  tail  slightly,  as  is  done  with 
the  trout  in  this  country  in  extruding  its  eggs.     In  manip- 
ulation, Messrs.  Martin  and  Gillone,  on  the  river  Dee,  use  a 
box  about  three  feet  and  a  half  long,  seven  inches  in 
breadth,  and  of  corresponding  depth.      It  is  filled  with 
water,  and  the  eggs  are  pressed  out  of  the  fish  in  the  posi- 
tion  in  which  it  swims. 

The  young  of  the  salmon,  as  long  as  it  retains  what  are 
known  as  the  finger-marks  on  its  sides,  is  called  a  parr. 
When  these  marks  are  no  longer  visible,  and  it  assumes  a 
silvery  coat,  it  is  a  smoU,  and  is  sufficiently  advanced  for  its 
first  migration  to  sea.     On  its  return,  which  may  be  after 
six  or  eight  weeks,  or  not  until  the  following  summer,  it  is 
a  grilse,  its  average  weight  being  about  four  pounds.    After 
its  second  visit  to  its  marine  feeding-grounds,  it  is  a  salmon, 
weighing  from  eight  to  fifteen  pounds.     Immediately  afte^ 
spawning  it  is  called  a  kelt,  or  a  black  Jisk;  the  latter 
appellation  is  given  to  a  fish  that  has  spawned  and  remains 
in  the  river  for  any  length  of  time,  which  generally  occurs 
in  the  winter  months. 
10 


no 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


H 


The  figures  on  this  and  the  opposite  page  exhibit  the 
growth  of  the  young  salmon  ab  ovo.     No.  1  is  the  egg; 
No.  2,  the  fish  when  it  casts  off  the  shell ;  No.  3,  after  the 
umbilical  sac  is  absorbed;   No.  4,  the  size  when  three 
months  old ;  No.  5,  when  five  months ;  No.  6,  when  ten  or 
eleven  months  old;  and  No.  7,  when  it  puts  on  the  silvery 
vesture  of  the  smolt  and  is  ready  for  its  first  migration  to 
sea.    Figures  5,  6  and  7  represent  the  growth  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  and  of  such  as  go  to  sea  the  second 
summer,  when  somewhat  over  a  year  old.     Experiments  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland  have  shown  that  only  a  portion  of  ♦he 
fry  become  smolts  the  second  summer,  the  remaining  por- 
tion, which  is  about  half,  not  arriving  at  that  state  until 
another  year  has  elapsed.     It  was  supposed  at  one  time,  by 
those  who  conducted  the  salmon-breeding  establishment  at 


i« 


'  '*■ 


be 


Be 


or 


to 


n 


r 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SALMON. 


Ill 


Stormontfield,  that  the  latter  might  be  the  produce  of  parr 
with  grilse,  or  either  of  these  with  the  salmon,  v^hile  the 
early  immigrants  were  entirely  the  offspring  of  mature  sal- 
mon. It  was  found,  however,  on  impregnating  the  ova  of 
the  one  with  the  milt  of  the  other,  that  the  produce  of  each 
of  these  minglings  at  the  age  of  a  year  were  about  the  same 
size,  the  largest  of  them,  which  was  but  five  inches  long, 
being  from  the  ova  of  a  salmon  impregnated  with  the  milt 
of  a  large  smolt  taken  from  the  pond.  Owing  to  the  limited 
extent  of  the  single  pond  at  that  time,  however,  the  rearing 
of  the  young  fish  was  done  in  such  confined  space  (as  in 
small  ponds  or  boxes)  as  evidently  stunted  their  growth, 
and  the  riddle,  why  a  part  of  the  fry  become  smolts  when 
a  little  over  a  year  old  and  the  remaining  part  not  until  the 
following  summer,  is  still  unsolvec 

Those  who  are  not  conversant  wi«h  the  nat-  ral  history 
of  this  fish  will  no  doubt  be  astonished  to  learn  that  the 
male  parr  in  Scottish  rivers  has  milt  sufficiently  mature, 
at  the  spawning  season,  to  impregnate  the  ova  of  a  grilse 
or  full-grown  salmon.  Whether  this  be  the  case  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  it  is  difficult  to  say ;  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  it  is  not.  In  European  rivers  the  female  grilse  has 
also  mature  spawn  at  the  proper  season,  while  the  female 
grilse  in  the  waters  of  New  Brunswick  has  not,  although 
the  male  grilse  may  be  found  with  well-developed  milt.  In 
examining;  a  dozen  or  more  through  the  summer,  and  as 
late  as  the  Ist  of  September,  I  did  not  find  one  in  which 
the  ova  was  in  more  than  a  rudimeubary  state.  Whatever 
may  be  the  difference  between  the  growth  or  adulesence 


■P! 


112  AMERICAN  FISH  COLTDEB. 

Of  the  salmon  here,  compared  with  Europe,  the  same  rule 
holds,  that  the  males  precede  the  opposite  sex  a  year  i, 
their  power  of  reproducing. 

In  the  supplement  to  the  second  edition  of  the  American 
Anglers  Book,  I  have  alluded  to  a  discovery  made  by  Mr. 
If-  F.  Whitcher,  that  the  salmon  in  Canada  frequently 
express  their  spawn  and  milt  simntoneously,  by  bodily 
contact,  the  male  aud  female  lying  partially  on  their  sides. 
I   am  also  strongly  impressed  with  the   belief,   from 
the  long  term  of  incubation  required  in  the  rivers  of  our 
eastern  coast,  that  the  fry  do  not  come  from  the  ova  until 
the  summer  has  set  in  or  advanced  somewhat,  and  that  this 
retards  their  growth  so  much  that  none  of  them  come  to 
the  smolt  state  the  second  year.     In  fishing  from  June 
until  September  I  have  taken  many  of  the  fry  on  my  sal- 
mon  flies.    I  have  had  them,  in  some  pools,  continually 
jumping  at  the  knots  on  my  casting-line;  and  at  the  en- 
trance  of  small  spring  brooks,  when  there  was  a  good  cur- 
rent  m  the  river,  have  taken  them  when  fishing  for  trout- 
but  all  had  the  usual  finger-marks  of  the  parr,  none  the' 
Bilvery  garb  of  the  smolt.     Nor  had  any  of  the  canoo-men 
I  have  employed  at  different  times  ever  seen  a  young  sal. 
men  with  the  bright  vesture  that  is  significant  of  its  inten- 
tion  to  make  its  first  trip  to  sea.     The  migration  of  smolts 
therefore,  must  be  before  the  rod-fishing  commences,  which 
.s  in  Juno  or  after  the  middle  of  September,  when  it  is 
over.     If  they  migrate  in  May  some  of  them  may  return 
as  gnlse  in  August  or  September,  but  the  large  schools 
which  come  into  the  rivers  in  July  are  doubtless  those  that 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON.  113, 

have  remained  at  sea  all  winter.  At  Ballisodare,  in  Ire- 
land, marked  grilse  have  not  returned  until  the  expiration 
of  sixteen  or  seventeen  months ;  and  the  question  has  even 
been  mooted  whether  some  smolts,  when  they  go  to  sea,  do 
not  remain  long  enough  to  pass  through  the  grilse  state  and 
become  salmon  before  they  return. 

After  all  the  experiments,  and  the  close  observation  of 
the  habits  of  salmon,  there  is  still  much  uncertainty  as  to 
its  growth  and  its  migrations.  What  modifications  may  be 
made  in  series  of  generations  by  artificial  hatching  and 
raising  the  young  fish  in  ponds,  remains  to  be  seen.  With 
water  for  incubation  at  50°,  and  chopped  liver,  «&c.,  fed  to 
the  fry,  it  may  make  a  whole  year's  difference  in  producing 
mature  salmon.  Inartificial  culture  in  Scotland,  the  fry, 
as  a  general  rule,  are  not  turned  into  the  river  until  they 
become  smolts,  being  kept  in  ponds  until  that  time,  and 
thus  protected  from  their  natural  enemies,  which  would 
prey  upon  them  if  turned  out  to  shift  for  themselves  as  soon 
as  the  umbilical  sac  is  absorbed.  In  the  short  account 
of  the  salmon-breeding  establishment  of  Stormontfield, 
given  on  a  succeeding  page,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  pond 
covering  an  acre,  and  having  the  average  depth  of  four 
feet,  is  deemed  suflicient  for  the  feeding  and  rearing  of 
three  hundred  thousand  young  salmon. 

The  salmon  of  the  Danube,*  which  migrate  to  and  from 
the  Black  Sea,  are  said  to  grow  to  double  the  size  of  those 


*  This  is  doubtless  the  *'  Salmo  hticho,**  described  by  Sir  Hum- 
phrey  Davy  in  his  "  Salmonia." 

10* 


Hi 


."<  *MS!R10AN  FISH  ODLTOKE. 

%atta.„  the  weight  of  a  p„™d-their  subsequent  iu- 
crease.,,  s.ze  .s  slower.     I«rge  satoou  of  the  Danube  must 
therefore  be  fish  of  advanced  age. 
The  first  attempt  at  breeding  salmon  artificially  i„  the 

by  James  B.  Johnston,  Esq.,  of  New  York  eity.  F„ur 
years  s.„ee  he  i,„p„rted  the  ova  of  salmon,  salmon  of  the 
Danube  t.ut,  and  eharr.  A  part  of  these  were  hatched 
out  a  the  studio  buildings  ou  Tenth  street,  New  York  n 
troughs  similar  to  those  at  the  College  of  France,  but  'the 
Croton  water  was  fatal  to  most  of  them.  The  fry  which 
M.Joh„s,.„. moved  U>  Long  Island  were  p  Jsing  ^ 
conliuement,  he  s.ivs  '<  hi,f  a-  ^  r  ^ 

when  liberated  "''  "'  '""°  "''=""'','''''  -"- 

the'f!ro"'f:;;:'"f''  ":"  '""'^'  ■'"  '-^  ^-'Sewassetin 
the  fall  of  1866,  .t  .s  thought  did  well,  as  Dr.  Fletcher  of 
Cone    d        „.^  ^„  ^^^  ^^^  ,^^  ^^^^_____     ^^^^      e  0.  ^ 

who  had  the  matter  in  charge,  also  brought  home  from  th 

wtTi      r  r"''"--^  «^^-     Half  of  thl! 
were  placed  under  charge  of  Mr  J  .9  R„i,- 
dith    ivr    R         J  .u  '"■■'■''•Robinson.of  Mere- 

d.th    N.  H.,  and  the  remaining  half  were  put  into  the 
hatchmg-troughs  of  Rev.   Livingston   Stone,  of  Charles 
"own,  N.  H.     The  first  fry  hatched  in  siny.t:„  days  from 
■».pregn.t,o„.     I„  a  letter  to  Mr.  Ainsworth,  dated  Feb 
..ary  6th  ,67,  Mr.  R„bin,o„  says  .  .  The  hatching  of  the 
»lm„n  ova  has  concluded  and  the  result  is  very  gratifyin/ 
»-  «9  ,».  cent,  have  hatched  and  seem  to     e'^       fy' 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


115,1 


healthy.  I  do  not  mean  of  all  the  eggs,  but  99  per  cent, 
of  all  the  impregnated  ones,  which  was  12  per  cent,  of  the 
whole.  One-half  of  the  eggs  were  sent  to  Charlestown, 
N.  H.,  and  are  designed  for  the  Connecticut." 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt  but  that  with  experience  in  the 
manipulation  of  salmon,  and  in  the  transportation  of  ova, 
we  shall  be  able  to  introduce  them  into  our  rivers  as  readily 
as  we  can  trout  into  brooks  which  they  have  not  before 
inhabited. 

The  naturalization  of  this  fish  in  rivers  u  few  parallels 
south  of  those  it  once  visited,  would  be  an  exceedingly 
interesting  experiment.  The  expenditure  of  a  few  thou- 
sand dollars  in  this  way,  and  strict  enforcement  of  laws, 
provided  for  their  protection,  would  add  largely  to  the  value 
of  our  fish  product,  and  make  salmon  cheaper  than  beef  in 
our  markets.  Let  any  one  ride  in  the  cars  from  Easton  to 
Belvidere  on  the  Delaware,  and  see  its  fine  pools  and  rapids, 
and  then  explore  its  bounding  upper  waters  and  tributa- 
ries, and  speculate  as  to  the  vast  area  of  spawning-ground 
this  river  affords,  and  say  if  the  states  bordering  on  it,  or 
owning  the  tributaries,  are  not  closing  these  natural  salmon 
nurseries  against  a  wealth  of  delicate  food  we  might  enjoy. 
The  experiment  of  introducing  salmon  even  into  the  Sus- 
quehanna is  well  worth  the  trial.  When  the  question  of 
fishways  is  settled  in  favor  of  the  citizens  of  the  state,  as 
it  must  ultimately  be,  the  many  noble  creeks  that  feed  it 
(they  would  be  dignified  by  being  called  rivers  in  Europe) 
would  afford  extensive  spawning-beds  The  summer  tem- 
perature of  the  water  of  these  is  but  little  above  that  of 


^^^  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

some  of  the  fine  salmon  rivers  of  New  Brunswick  or  of 
California. 

If  part  of  the  expenditure  of  the  agricultural  bureau, 
which  produces  no  immediate  benefit  to  the  country,  was 
appropriated  to  building  an  efficient  fishway  around  Niagara 
Falls,  and  salmon  were  introduced  by  artificial  culture  into 
the  many  fine  rivers  entering  the  chain  of  great  lakes 
above,  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  numbers  that  would 
make  the  Niagara  river  a  highway.     At  throng  time  it 
would  be  like  the  waters  below  the  falls  ol'  some  of  the 
Oregon  rivers,  where  a  spear  thrown  at  random  does  not 
fail  to  impale  a  salmon.     In  France  such  a  national  enter- 
prise  would  not  be  thought  chimerical. 

Within  a  period  often  years,  the  salmon  fisheries  of  the 
British  Provinces  had  declined  so  much  as  to  create  fears 
of  the  gradual,  but  sure  extinction  of  this  fish  in  many 
rivers.     By  legislation,  strict  enforcement  of  laws  provided 
for  their  protection,  and  the  erection  of  a  few  fishways  this 
decline  has  not  only  been  arrested,  but  the  numbers  of 
salmon  so  much  increased,  as  to  bring  back  the  prices  at 
Quebec  and  Montreal  to  the  point  at  which  they  stood 
twenty  years  ago.     To  Mr.  W.  F.  Whitcher,  the  able  and 
vigilant  head  of  the  Fisheries  Branch  of  the  Crown  Land 
Department,  much  credit  is  due,  for  his  efficient  agency  in 
arresting  the  destruction,  and  re-instating  most  of  the  rivers 
to  their  former  fruitfulness.      The  St.  Lawrence  at  this 
time  has  eighty-seven  tributaries  well  stocked  with  salmon 
The  summer  of  1865  was  favorable  for  the  salmon  fisheries 
of  Canada  and  New  Brunswick.     The  rod  fishing  on  most 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


117 


of  the  rivers,  surpassed  that  of  any  former  year.     The  sub- 
joined is  from  a  Montreal  paper : 

"  Salmon  Fishing  at  Goodhout — Season  of  1865. — The 
following  record  of  22  days'  salmon-fishing  on  the  Good- 
bout,  has  been  transmitted  us  for  publication.  We  have  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  editor  of  the  Field,  and  the 
sporting  community  generally,  to  Mr.  Gilmour's  magnificent 
day's  sport  of  46  fish,  and  to  ask  if  it  has  been  beaten  else- 
where ?     We  believe  it  is  the  largest  on  record : 


? 

^f 

^? 

h 

?» 

June. 

s. 

er 
4 

n 

0 

1 

Sio 
B  93 

pa 

0 

3 

20 

21 

7 

0 

1 

0 

6 

22 

10 

1 

2 

0 

7 

23 

7 

1 

0 

4 

2 

24 

8 

0 

1 

3 

4 

Sunday- 

-no  Fishing. 

26 

11 

2 

3 

3 

3 

27 

20 

0 

5 

9 

6 

28 

28 

a 

8 

6 

9 

•29 

26 

5 

6 

6 

9 

30 

22 

0 

fi 

10 

6 

July     1 

17 

0 

2 

6 

9 

Sunday- 

-no  Fishing. 

3 

30 

7 

2 

9 

12 

4 

31 

2 

16 

6 

7 

5 

44 

5 

1 

30 

8 

6 

23 

1 

7 

6 

9 

7 

18 

10 

3 

1 

4 

8 

26 

9 

12 

4 

10 

Sunday- 

-no  Fishing. 

10 

54 

1 

4 

46 

3 

11 

28 

1 

4 

7 

16 

12 

20 

8 

2 

4 

5 

13 

21 

0 

21 

0 

0 

14 

23 

0 

2 

5 

16 

478 

49 

109 

165 

155 

^ 


118 


} 


AMBKICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 
Total,  478.     Pish  weight 
Noble,         .        , 
Cross 

u»  '»" 

•         •         •         .     1551 
.     1567 


'■ng  gross  4665  lbs.,  riz. : 
•      588 


Gilmour     . 


Total    .      . 

^"'••Ki°««'»>"«9}ir«.e,cha,h."'      '      ■ 

r^'.  and  , eft  off  during  .  ^  ,„„  „,  ^,    ";  *;  »- 
oo«  I  w„„M  Wo  „.de  an  e.tn.„.di„ar,  .ore 
J  of  m7°-'  °'  "^  «-»-»-.  of  Pi^terie,  for  the 
oo^vo  pages,  and  contains  so  „nch  valuable  info^In 
Pa«.c«.ariya,  ,Wing  the  feasibiliey  of  ..took    gte  J 

Van :::  trT "'°'°"  ''"'^' «""'  ^^  "•»•■" '« - 
ani:  e'a^-riAtrr'"'-  ^■■^-  ^--^ ". 

izea  tie  J  •  ^'P""*  *'"'"' »»"  "ka'acter- 

'n         ■'°"""'«^"»«'«  ""-ti-uea,  we  may,  ,„  the  course 
of  Ave  or  s«  years,  have  abundant  sport  in  the  fin. 
of  Maine.  ""  "''™ 

1  have  obtained  from  Theodore  Lyman  E,„    «.        • 

:r:z:is:::::;r.r-"r"^'^'""" 

M20,area,sofro:rs;::,'''''^'''-''«™-'' 


^ 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SALMON. 

I  fg.  i. 


119 


~l      '    '' 


120 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Fig.  4.— Diagram  of  the  double  Fish-steir  «*  t       „ 

the  arrangement  of  the  tanks  and  7  '  '^"^'"^ 

far,i,  *""  *he  course  of  the  watPr      ti, 

tanks  are  somewhat  over  twelvp  f„o.  ^'^^ 

- ..  .o™ .. ...  ::r  irrrr/r- 

da.  („;  "'"'""'  "■'"•""»««"  W  Placed  „„  .h! 

below  the  dam.  "ver  bed.    e,  the  water-line, 

Fig.  r.-Pian  of  Foster's  fishway,  showing  th.         . 

of  the  cross-bulkheads  (/)  and  the  '°^*^'  '"'"''''^^  «!««* 

""  '^y  >  ana  the  course  of  the  wntA^         *i. 
dam.    g,  the  flood-gate.  ^"^^     ^'  *^« 

Fig.  8. — Flood-gate  of  VnitPt-'^  ft„u 
.he  dam  (o)  •  „  „  ^il       .  ''  "''°  ''■■'""  "«'  '''«'  °f 

7  "r —>  ">-«  '■  -e  dou..  -v,e.:r ,  j: : :  r "' 

through  so  narrow  an  onenino.  a.,u-      ,  ^'^  P*®^ 

-.".on  Win.    The  c  oTblr        "'"  *°'"  =  '"'  "'^"^  "■"' 

of  the  pa„  ,„  .hi  T  °"  °'°*'  "  "'"•  •"  ""  •"'- 

pass,  so  .hat  ihe  water  rans  deep.    Fiirs  6   7    .  .,  . 

drawn  „„  .  .eale  of  20  feet  u>  .„  i.eh.  '  '  "' 


CULTURE  OP  TUB  SALMON.  121 

Salmon  hreoding  at  Stormontfield.* — This  establishment, 
which  has  been  in  operation  about  fifteen  years,       situated 
on  the  Tay,  about  five  miles  above  Perth.     The  ponds 
occupy  a  piece  of  ground  which  slopes  gently  down  to  the 
river.     The  ground  is  bounded  at  the  top  by  the  Stormont- 
field  mill-lade,  which  is  led  from  the  Tay  at  a  point  a  uiile 
higher  up ;  the  space  between  the  lade  and  the  river  being 
about  five  hundred  feet.     Within  these  limits  the  whole 
of  the  operations  are  carried  on.     A  pipe  from  the  lade 
discharges  at  a  short  distance  the  water  into  a  bed  of 
gravel,  from  which  it  rises  through  two  openings  into  a 
channel  supplying  the  hatching-boxes.     These  boxes  are 
three  hundred  in  number,  and  lie  in  twenty-five  parallel 
rows  of  twelve  each,  at  right  angles  to  the  lade,  and  have 
a  considerable  slope.     Between  each  row  is  a  narrow  ^oot- 
path  for  the  convenience  of  examining  the  boxes,  which 
are  six  feet  long,  eighteen  inches  wide,  and  twelve  inches 
deep ;  the  division  between  the  boxes  of  each  row  being 
cut  down  half  way,  so  as  to  allow  a  free  flow  of  water. 
The  boxes  are  filled  to  within  two  inches  of  the  surface  of 
the  water,  first  with  fine,  then  with  coarser  gravel,  and  on 
the  top  is  a  layer  of  stones  about  the  size  of  road-metal 
Amongst  these  stones  the  impregnated  ova  are  placed,  about 
a  thousand  in  each  box.     Running  along  the  foot  of  the 
rows  of  boxes,  is  a  small  channel  which  joins  a  lade  leading 
to  the  two  feeding-ponds,  one  occupying  about  a  quarter 
and  the  other  a  full  acre,  the  latter  having  been  added 

*  A  condensation  of  a  description  found  in  the  Fisherman's  Maga- 
zine, London,  with  some  additions  from  '*  Harvest  Qf  the  Sea." 
U 


!l, 


!        I 


^22  AMERICAN  PISH  CULTUJIE. 

Within  a  few  years.     A  channel  connects  the  ponds  with 
the  river,  for  the  passage  of  the  smolts  to  sea,  a  perforated 
sluice  being  opened  at  the  proper  time  for  their  egress 
The  smolts  can  be  detained  by  a  sluice  near  the  river  when 
any  of  them  are  to  be  marked. 

The  time  of  incubation  here,  is  from  a  hundred  to  a 
hundred  and  thirty  days.     The  fry  remain  in  the  hatchin<.- 
boxes  five  or  six  wee:cs,  and  then  find  their  way  to  the  first 
pond,  where  they  remain  for  a  year,  and  are  then  turned 
into  the  second  pond,  that  the  succeeding  brood  of  fry  may 
occupy  the  first.     From  the  second  pond,  when  they  become 
smolts,  they  are  turned  into  the  river  through  the  channel 
referred  to  above.      Marking  thc:n  is  done  generally  by 
clipping  or  notching  the  adipose  dorsal  fin.     The  fry  are 
fed  regularly  on  boiled  liver  grated  fine,  rising  to  the  sur- 
face in  thousands  when  it  is  thrown  in. 

The  spawning  fish  are  taken  at  Almond  Mouth,  about 
three  miles   distant,  with  the  common  draught  net,  and 
manipulated  there.     When  a  rise  in  the  river  sufficient  to 
interfere  with  taking  the  fish  is  apprehended,  they  can  be 
taken  some  days  before  they  are  fully  mature,  and  kept  in 
the  mill-lade  mentioned  at  the  beginning  of  this  article; 
being  kept  within  bounds  by  two  rows  of  iron  bars  set 
across  the  lade,  one  row  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the 
other.   Mr.  Peter  Marshall,  the  superintendent  of  the  works, 
>  the  operator.     Holding  the  female  firmly  or  having  her 
held,  he  brings  his  hand  with  a  gentle  pressure  down  the 
belly,  when  the  ova  are  ejected  into  a  pail  of  river  water; 
manipulating  the  male  in  the  same  way,  he  extrudes  the  milt 


II   fc 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


123 


and  sets  the  pail  aside  for  awhile,  when  the  water  is  pou.  .. 
oflF  and  fresh  water  substituted ;  after  renewing  it  a  second, 
and  it  may  be  a  third  time,  the  eggs  are  ready  to  be  placed 
in  the  hatching-boxes.  It  is  estimated  that  the  female 
salmon  has  about  a  thousand  eggs  to  each  pound  of  her 
weight,  therefore  the  ova  from  fifteen  fish  of  twenty  pounds, 
or  twenty  of  fifteen  pounds,  or  thirty  of  ten  pounds,  will 
give  three  hundred  thousand  eggs. 

When  this  fish  factory  was  first  established,  the  single 
pond  could  only  be  stocked  alternate  years,  from  the  fact 
that  part  of  the  fry  became  smolts  the  second,  and  the 
remaining  portion  the  third  year.  The  latter  of  course 
would  destroy  the  brood  of  young  fish  if  turned  into  the 
pond  from  the  hatching-boxes.  This  led  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  second  pond  for  the  accommodation  of  the  parr 
that  remained  until  the  third  summer,  so  that  the  produc- 
tion of  fry  can  be  increased  from  three  hundred  thousand 
every  alternate  year,  to  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
every  year. 

From  the  information  I  can  gain  as  to  the  loss  of  sal- 
mon-eggs in  incubation,  it  is  about  ten  per  cent,  in  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  and  more  than  double  of  that  at  Hun- 


mgue. 


One  of  the  consequences  of  the  operations  at  Stor- 
montfield,  up  to  1865,  was  an  increase  of  ten  per  cent, 
in  the  number  of  salmon  taken  in  the  Tay,  and,  of 
course,  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  rental  of  its 
fisheries.  It  has  also  opened  the  eyes  of  owners  and 
lessees  of  fisheries  on  this  and  other  rivers,  to  the  availa- 


t 


1  I    t 


ir 


'24  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTnEB. 

Mity  of  fish  culture,  i„  rertoring  them  to  thoir  f„™er 
fecu„d.ty.     Amongst  those  who  have  adopted  this  mean, 
are  Messrs.  Martin  &  Gillono,  lessees  of  the  river  Dee  sal^ 
«o„.fisheries.     Their  establiahmeut  is  at  Tonguelaud,  on 
he  Dee.    In  1865  thoj  produced  frou.  ova  laid   down 
the  previous  autumn,  over  100,000  joung  fish.     They  do 
not  expose  the  ova  to  the  weather  as  at  Stormontfield,  but 
occupy  a  room  seventy  feet  long  in  a  lumber  store-house 
connected  with  a  J«„^  w«y.     j^  ;,  ;„  contemplation' 
by  some  spirited  gentlemen,  to  endeavor  to  increase  the 
produce  of  the  Severn,  and  to  stock  some  of  the  other 
nvers  of  England  with  salmon.    Even  the  polluted  Thames 
«  mcluded  in  the  number,  side  drains  for  the  filth  dis- 
oharged  into  it  by  London,  having  been  talked  of     The 
Thame,  M.jling  Pre^rvatlon  Soc{e>,j  have  a  hatching 
establ-shment,  and  have  introduced  the  grayling     I„  the 
season  of  1863-1  they  turned   out  about  40,000  yon„« 
^«V  12,000  of  which  were  salmon,  the  remainder  comml 
trout,  sea  trout,  Rhine  salmon,  ombre  chevalier  &c 

The  following  account  of  Mr.  Ashworth's  undertaking  on 
the  Galway,  is  from  Mr.  Francis's  book  on  Fish  Culture. 

Several  successful  undertakings  in  pisciculture  have 
been  carried  out  in  Ireland.    The  first  of  any  note,  perhaps 
w;;»_^ten^omM}alway,  i„    1852.      The  Oalway 
•Mr.  Franci.,,  writer  on  a'^^iii^ii^^^TTT^^^" 

.0.  through  .„„  ,„,„„e  „.,er  „,■  .,,  ,,.„„,,  „^^„,,„  ^ ^^^^ 

g.vcB  a„  unfavorable  rcpor,  g„„e,„„y,  „f  „,o  re.„I..  „f  m.  cater, 
prise  thus  far. 


'  i 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


125 


river  is  the  channel  through  which  Loughs  Mask  and 
Corrib,  two  enormous  lakes  containing  a  vkst  area  of  water, 
discharge  themselves  into  the  sea.  The  fishery  of  this 
river  belongs  to  Mr.  Ashworth.  In  1852,  finding  the 
stock  had  been  terribly  reduced  from  a  variety  of  causes, 
he  established  a  breeding-place  at  Outerard,  in  a  small 
tributary  stream.  Here  twenty  boxes  were  laid  down,  after 
the  same  fashion  as  the  plan,  already  explained,  adopted  at 
Stormontfield.  This  plan,  carried  out  by  Mr.  Ramsbottom, 
was  the  model  whence  Stormontfield  was  taken.  These 
boxes  were  stocked  with  about  40,000  ova,  which  in  due 
time  came  to  perfection.  Subsequently,  owing  partly  to 
the  opening  of  a  wide  Queen's-gap  in  the  weir,  Mr.  Ash- 
worth's  fishery  multiplied  itself  in  value  manifold,  and 
he  cast  about,  adding  a  still  larger  area  to  the  field  of  his 
operations. 

"Lough  Mask,  which  discharges  into  Lough  Corrib,  is 
separated  from  it  by  a  very  rugged  channel,  and  a  lofty, 
impassable  fall;  consequently,  although  Lough  Corrib 
abounded  in  salmon,  none  had  ever  been  seen  in  Lough 
Mask.  Moreover,  the  .many  gravelly  tributaries  which 
salmon  love  to  spawn  in,  rather  discharged  themselves  into 
the  upper  part  of  Lough  Mask,  which  again  receives  the 
waters  of  one  or  two  smaller  lakes,  than  into  Lough  Corrib; 
and  as  the  capabilities  of  production  of  a  fishery  are 
bounded  by  the  area  of  its  spawning-beds,  this  proved  a 
serious  check  to  the  further  increase  of  productiveness  in 
the  fishery.  Undaunted  by  difficulties,  however,  Mr.  Ash- 
TTuitii  Bcii  TO  Tvuia.,  aiiiciiuiuiuu  iiiv  su'caui,  put  saioion- 

11* 


^26  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

Stairs  to  the  impassable  fall,  and  stocked  the  head  waters  of 
Lough  Mask  with  half  a  million  of  salmon  ova.     These 
operations  have  been  so  lately  completed,  that  we  hardly 
know  as  yet  what  measure  of  success  will  attend  them ;  but 
1  see  no  reason  for  doubting  their  success,  and,  if  so,  a 
capable  area  of  about  thirty  square  miles  will  be  added  to 
Mr.   Ashworth's  already   valuable  fishery,  and  in  a  few 
years'  time  the  fishery  will  realize  a  handsome  fortune. 
This  shows  what  can  be  done  by  pisciculture,  in  its  broad 
sense,  and  a  little  practical  common  sense  combined." 

To  the  foregoing  I  would  add,  that  from  information 
obtained  from  another  source,  Mr.  Ashworth  laid  down 
in  the  season  of  1861-2,  no  less  then  a  million  and  a  half 
of  ova. 

I  would  also  state  that  Mr.  Frank  Buckland,  a  naturalist 
who  takes  much  interest  in  fish  culture  in  England,  has, 
since  the  publication  of  Mr.  Francis's  book,  examined  the' 
ground  between   lakes  Corrib  and   Mask.     His  report  is 
adverse  to  the  efficiency  of  the  fishway  there  used.     Ho 
says  that  the  natural  outlet  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
lake,  is  underground,  through  broken  and  cavernous  rocks, 
and  that  the  channel  for  the  fishway  is  in  the  bed  of  an 
aban<loned   canal,   three   and  a  half  miles  long,  through 
rocky  ground   full  of  fissures  and  sirik.hol.es.      That  the 
passage,  even  with  the  improvement  made  by  laying  down 
a  thousand  feet  of  iron   pipe,  three  feet  in  diameter,  is 
impracticable  to  salmon  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  from  the 
force  of  the  current;  and  in  summer,  from. the  scarcity  of 
water.     And  further,  that  the  young  fish  leaving  Lough 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


127  m 


Mask,  would  most  likely  do  so  by  some  of  the  many  sub- 
terranean passages,  and  be  lost  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
The  foregoing,  in  substance,  is  from  "  The  Field,"  of  Nov. 
19th,  1864.  Mr.  Ashworth,  in  his  prize  essay  on  the  culti- 
vation of  salmon  fisheries,  says,  "  I  have  lately  expended 
£1700  in  the  construction  of  a  salmon-passage  and  ladder, 
between  Loughs  Corrib  and  Mask,  and  through  which 
salmon  have  passed  in  the  winter  of  1865,  into  an  exten- 
sive district  of  new  bfeeding-giound  from  which  they  had 
been  previously  excluded."  This  is  the  last  we  have  of 
the  passage  alluded  to.  Whether  the  fish  have  passed  it, 
in  numbers,  and  if  so,  whether  Mr.  Buckland's  prediction 
of  the  fry  getting  lost  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  has  been 
realized,  I  am  unable  to  state. 

I  am  indebted  also  to  Mr.  Francis's  book,  for  an  account 
of  Mr.  Edward  J.  Cooper's  experiments  at  Ballisodare, 
Ireland, 

,  "  This  undertaking,  which  was  really  an  experiment, 
shows  how  great  difficulties  can  be  overcome  by  persever- 
ance, and  how  a  fishery  can  be  created  where  none  has 
previously  existed.  Mr.  Cooper  owns  two  rivers,  the 
Owenmore  and  the  Arrow,  which  unite  some  two  and  a 
half  miles  from  the  sea  and  form  the  Ballisodare  river. 
On  these  rivers  are  three  falls  ;  the  lowest,  which  is  a  suc- 
cession of  falls  over  high  ledges  of  rock,  is  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  sea ;  the  next,  which  is  a  short  distance 
above  it,  is  called  the  Upper  Ballisodare  Fall.  This  fall  is 
impracticable  to  fish,  though  fish  had  been  known  to  sur- 
mount the  lower  one  occasionally,  but  not  often.      Tho 


M  i 


( I  , 


128  AMERICAN  FISH  CUtTKKE. 

entire  height  of  the  two  fall,  i.  abont  seventy  feet.     The 

S"' " "':  - '"' «"-— '  -  «■'  village ;; 

CoUooney,  has  but  one  fall;  but  this  one  is  higher  than 

Upper  Ba,.odare  Fall,  and  is  entirely  i„prae.-.ble. 

at  fir!t\        r  '"""'  *"  ""^  ''PP"  «»"-"-<'  Fall  was 
■t  first  brought  out  into  the  lower  water  ,»o  far  down  the 

rea^Whefan,  so  that  the  fish  in  running  up  u.i  J 

'  •.    '  r    .       ""  ''"'"'  "^"^''-"^  --  '""  't.  -  as  to 
n„g  the  e.b„uehure  of  the  ladder  Cose  to  the  flot  „f  th 

elrin.M"  '""  "'""'  "''  "'^^^  '"''■' '»  «>»  l"""'  of 
enter  ng  the  nver  and  running  up  to  the  lower  falls,  and 

he  plan  adopted  to  stock  the  river  was  that  of  oat  hLg 

hat  they  unght  spawn  in  the  river.     After  sundry  4i,„  es 

e  ladders     e.ng  completed,  and  several  fi,h  being  put   ! 

above  the  falls,  and  son.e  feeundated  ova  deposited  in  the 

nver,  a  large  quantity  of  saln,o„.fry  was  observed  to  be  in 

the  r.ver.     These,  at  the  usual  tiu,e,  became  sn,olts  and 

«ppeared^     This  was  about  April,,  857.     On  June  26th 
*o  first  grUse  was  observed  at  the  fall;  by  J„lv  they  were 
plont,ful,  and  so  continued  till  the  end  of  the  s'eason     Th 
nver  was  not  fished  in  1857. 

"  I  had  much  more  and  interesting  particular,  from  Mr 

for  n  here.     The  account  was  fully  given  in  "  The  Field"  in 
Uecomber,  1858   and  from  ♦i...*  t 

»ng  table,   showing  how  r^nmr^i  *  i     xi_ 

vv  n„   now  compl,,fcolj  the  experiment  sue- 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON.  129 

ceeded.  The  table  was  kept  by  an  agent  whom  Mr.  Cooper 
appointed : — 

"  '  1857.  August  24.  Saw  several  salmon  in  the  hole 
under  the  fall  of  CoUooney. 

"  '  September  24.  The  river  between  Ballisodare  and 
Collooney  is  now  well  stocked,  salmon  being  visible  in 
almost  every  deep  hole,  and  a  number  being  congregated 
between  Collooney  Bridge  and  the  hole  under  the  fall. 

"  '  October  3.  A  flood  being  in  the  Owenmore,  I  shut 
the  water  oflF  the  Collooney  ladder  to  see  if  there  were  any 
fish  passing  up,  and  found  seven  salmon  and  one  white 
trout  in  the  pond      Of  these  seven,  five  were  males. 

"  '  October  13.  Examined  Collooney  ladder,  and  re- 
ported to  Mr.  Leech  that  thei*e  were  salmon  in  it.  Twenty - 
seven  salmon  were  found  in  it,  the  great  majority  of  them 
being  females. 

"  '  October  15.  Lowered  the  sluice  of  Collooney  ladder 
again,  but  got  no  fish. 

"  '  October  28.  Again  examined  the  ladder,  and  got 
three  male  fish. 

"  '  October  30.  Four  male  and  two  female  fish  taken 
out  of  ladder  and  put  up. 

"  '  November  3.     Sixteen  male  and  eight  female. 

"  '  November  4.  There  were  ten  fish  in  the  ladder, 
which  were  not  removed,  as  Mr.  Leech  was  not  present. 

"  '  November  5.     Nine  fish,  not  removed. 

"  '  November  6.     Seven  ditto,  ditto. 

"  '  November  7.    Eleven  ditto,  ditto.    I  went  to  Balliso- 

I 


^  'll 


i 

I 


ff 


I  ;!i 


I 


1    I 


I   f 


i 


130 


AMERICAIT  FISH  CULTURE. 


dare  on  this  day,  and  saw  several  large  fish  leaping  at  the 
upper  ladder. 

"  'November  9.     We  put  up  from  the  ladder  twenty, 
four  male  and  fifteen  female  fish. 

"  ^November  23.     Lowered  the  sluice  again;   twenty, 
five  male  and  twenty  female  fish  found  in  the  pond.     A 
few  of  these  were  large  fish   s..,,  U  1b«.  or  15  lbs.  weight. 
^    "' November  30.    Th.  .       '  9  now  beginning  to  spawn 
m  great  numbers  in  the  O^.uoeg  river. 

"  '  December  3.     Thirty-six  male  and  forty-five  female 
fish  found  in  the  ladder. 

1858.    January  5.     Saw  a  few  spawning-beds  in 
Owenmore. 

"  'January  9.     In  river  Arrow  and  tributaries  found 
twenty-nine  salmon  redds. 

"  '  February  14.  Walked  the  Kilmorgan  river  (a  tribu- 
tary  to  the  Arrow),  and  counted  twenty-one  redds.' 

"  In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  1858,  we  seldom  fished. 
In  the  month   of  February  we  took  five  fish ;  in   March 
three;  in   April  two;  iu  May  ten;  in  Juno  thirty-nine. 
^  We  did  not,  in  fact,  begin  to  fish  regularly  till  the  1st 
July.     During  this  month  we  took  868  salmon,  and  up  to 
the  20th  August  (the  close  of  our  season)  530  more— the 
year's  take  averaging  very  little  more  than  4   lbs.  each. 
Mr.   Culbertsou's    notes    on   this   year    are:    'Spring-fish 
showing  in  February.     One  of  9  lbs.  taken  in  the  net*^  was 
a  fry  marked  by  Srown  in  1856.     In  March  got  another 
about  the  same  weight.     Only  a  few  fish  through  this 
mouth.     Fry  coming  down  in  April,  and  more  plentifully 


I 


Ji 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


131 


in  May  :  but  I  do  not  think  so  many  in  the  river  as  last 
year.  On  13th  May  saw  nearly  one  hundred  jumps  from 
six  to  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening;  they  were  from  8 lbs. 
to  121b3.  weight.  On  9th  June  was  first  grilse  at  lower 
fall ;  about  the  end  of  the  month  they  were  very  plentiful. 
Among  the  fish  taken  by  the  nets  on  6th  July,  seven  were 
fry  marked  by  me  last  year,  and  they  weighed  5}  lbs.  to 
6  lbs  each.' 

"  Since  the  end  of  the  close-season,  many  reports  have 
been  sent  me  relative  to  the  numbers  running  up.     From 
my  inspector's  book  I  take  the  following  :  '  Aug.  28.     At 
Ballisodare,  numbers  of  salmon  in  every  part  of  the  river 
between  bridge  and  lowest  fall.     Sept.  1.     Collooney  ladder 
literally  full  of  fish.     They  did  not  run  in  such  numbers 
last  year  until  November,  being  over  two  months  earlier 
this  year.      Sept,  6.      Plenty  of  fish  immediately  above 
Collooney  Bridge.     Sept.  25.     Collooney  ladder  swarming, 
and  plenty  showing  in  every  place   between  bridge  and 
fall.      October  3  to  6.      Heavy  floods.     Collooney  ladder 
resembles   a   steeplechase,  as  we  see  them   clearing  the 
steps  in  pairs,  and  some  very  good  fish.     Oct.  8  and  9. 
Plenty  of  fish  still  on  the  run.     Oct.  16.     I  have  been 
watching  the  salmon  jumping  and  playing  at  Collooney 
fall  and  ladder.     I  have  visited  the  ladder  daily  this  week, 
and  from   the   numbers   in   it,  am   convinced  that  they 
could   be   removed    from   top   of  ladder  with   the  hand. 
Nov.    27.     Great  numbers  of  fish  in  Collooney   ladder.' 
In  addition  to  these  notes  of  my  inspector,  one  of  my 
water-keepers  reported  having  counted  207  salmon  in  one 


1     !  i  ! 


if 


132  AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 

hour  ascending  the  Collooney  ladder;  and  Mr.  Culbertson 

has  written   to  me  to  say  that  he  reckoned  100  in  less 

than  half  an  hour  making  up  the  rapids  at  Ballisodare. 

On  yesterday,  Dec.  2,  there  were  so  many  fish  in  the  po.^d 

at  Collooney,  that  Mr.  Leech  took  up  no  less  than  six  at 

once  in  a  common  landing-net. 

"Edward  J.  Cooper. 

«'  Markree  Castle,  December  3. 

"  P.S.— Since  my  letter  was  written,  the  Earl  of  Ennis- 
killen  has  visited  my  fishery;  and  I  extract  the  following 
from  his  notes,  entered  in  inspector's  book  :— 

"  '  On  the  9th  (Dec.)  I  visited  Collooney  ladder  and 
saw  immense  quantities  of  fish  running  up.     Frequently 
saw  four  fish  at  the  upper  step  jumping  together.      On 
the  10th  again  at  Collooney.     Not  nearly  so  many  fish 
moving  this  day;  counted  at  upper  step  nineteen  in  five 
minutes.     Turned  off  the  water,  and  put  up  256  fish. 
This  day  (11th)  counted  102  fish  jump  at  the  upper  step 
in  five  minutes.     Turn.d  off  the  water;  the  pond  actually 
alive  with  fish,  in  general  larger  and  fresher  from  the  sea 
than   those   of  yesterday.     Put   up   246   fish,   and   then 
stopped,  as  the  fish  were  getting  sick  in  the  pond.     I  am 
confident  that  we  did  not  take  half  the  number  out,  and 
that  we  left  from  three  to  four  hundred  in  the  pond.'  " 

Introduction  of  Salmon  into  the  Doohulla.—The  follow- 
ing extracts  and  condensation  of  letters  to  Mr.  Francis  on 
the  subject,  show  the  origin  and  early  progress  of  this 
enterprise.  The  subjoined  is  from  Mr.  Ffennel,  inspector 
of  fisheries. 


-^^^^s= 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


133 


"  In  relation  to  the  DoohuUa  river, — I  should  rather  say 
the  DoohuUa  waters,  because  there  is  nothing  which  can 
well  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  river  connected  with  the 
concern.  There  are  several  small  loughs  or  lakes  which 
now  discharge  through  two  artificial  cuts,  one  connecting 
the  upper  lakes  with  the  lower  one,  and  the  other  connect- 
ing all  with  the  sea,  and  more  in  the  character  of  mere 
ditches  than  of  rivers.  The  whole  catchment  area  (as 
engineers  call  it)  of  these  small  lakes  is  very  inconsidera- 
ble; they  always  contained  some  white  trout  which 
ascended  through  a  tortuous  stream  or  brook,  when  heavy 
rains  created  occasionally  sufficient  water  in  its  rugged 
bed  J  these  favorable  opportunities  however  were  few  and 
very  far  between.  This  place  was  purchased  some  years 
ago  by  Mr.  John  Knight  Boswell,  of  Monkstown,  near 
Dublin.  He  requested  me  to  assist  him  in  such  measures 
as  might  be  adopted  for  the  improvement  of  the  fishery. 

"  The  main  principle  carried  out,  was  that  of  connecting 
the  waters  of  the  several  loughs;  cuts  were  made  to  eflPeot 
this — the  old  stream  was  dammed  out,  the  water  was  run 
through  an  additional  lake  before  unconnected  with  the 
others.  The  speculation  was  a  complete  success,  though 
a  valuable  white  trout  fishery  only  was  created  when  Mr. 
Boswell  sold  it,  realizing  a  large  profit  for  his  outlay." 

The  following,  which  relates  to  the  same  waters  after 
coming  into  possession  of  Mr.  Cooper,  is  from  a  letter  of 
Mr.  Ramsbottom : — 

"  It  is  four  years  this  month  since  the  first  lot  of  ova  were 

deposited,  viz.,  18,000.     These,  when  hatched,  were  kept 

12 


.     AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE, 
in  the  nursery  beds  and  ponds  for  about  two  years  and 
three  months  as  smolts,  and  then  turned  into  the  river  per- 
fectly  ready  for  sea.     It  was  from  the  above  lot  of  smolts 
-76  marked  700  in  March,  1862,  and  which  have  during 
the  season  just  passed  returned  as  grilse,  being  now  a  little 
over  three  and  a  half  years  old.*     I  am  also  happy  to  in- 
form you  that  I  have  just  received  a  note  from  my  son  to 
say  that  he  has  for  the  first  time  seen  grilse  on  the  spawn- 
ing-beds of  the  river  at  Doohulla. 

"  That  your  readers   may  more   clearly  understand,  I 
append  a  table  of  the  dates  :— 
"  18,000  ova  deposited  in  1859. 
"  Ova  hatched  February,  1860. 

"  Fry  kept  in  nursery  ponds  until  May,  1862,  being 
nursed  for  two  years  and  three  months;  but  I  would  here 
remark  that  a  few  of  the  fry,  and  only  a  few,  appeared  to 
be  ready  for  sea  when  about  thirteen  months  old. 

"  Turned  out  of  nursery  ponds  ready  for  sea,  May,  1862. 
"  Returned  as  grilse  (after  being  at  sea  from  thirteen  to 
fifteen  months)  in  June,  July,  and  August,  1863. 

''  You  will  see  ^bat  when  the  first  grilse  returned   (in 

June),  it  must  hay.  been  three  years  and  four  months  old." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  how  small  a  stream 

can  be  made  exceedingly  product've  if  net-fishing  is  pro- 

*^-  It  w.-  b3  seen  by  this,  that  it  will  sometimes  require  three  years 
and  a  half  from  the  time  of  hatching  to  produce  a  grilse.  On  the 
contrary,  a  smolt  may  go  to  sea  when  something  over  a  year  old, 
and  return,  a  grilse,  in  two  months;  making  at  least,  two  years 
and  four  months  difference  in  the  time  of  maturity. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


135 


hibited  for  a  few  years  at  its  mouth,  and  the  salmon  pro- 
tected on  their  spawning-grounds.  There  are  no  doubt 
many  such  along  the  coast  of  New  England  that  could  be 
stocked,  and  salmon  cultivated  with  as  much  profit  as  at 
DoohuUa. 

The  project  of  stocking  the  rivers  of  Australia  with 
salmon  was  commenced  in  1864.  After  a  long  discussion 
as  to  the  manner  of  sending  out  the  ova,  a  hundred  thou- 
sand salmon  and  three  thousand  trout  eggs  were  packed  in 
two  hundred  boxes ;  moss  being  used  in  packing,  much  as 
we  do  with  the  ova  of  trout  in  this  country.  The  two 
hundred  boxes  were  closely  surrounded  by  thirty  tons  of 
ice  in  the  hold  of  the  ship  Norfolk,  which  sailed  on  the 
21st  of  January.  The  ship  was  seventy-seven  days  in 
making  the  passage,  and  arrived  at  Melbourne  on  the  15th 
of  April.  The  greater  number  of  the  boxes  were  at  once 
sent  off  to  Tasmania,  reaching  Hobart  Town  m  the  20th, 
where  suitable  arrangements  had  been  made  for  hatching 
on  the  liver  Plenty.  On  opening  the  boxes  it  was  found 
that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  ova  had  perished.  This 
occurred  where  they  were  tightly  packed  and  the  moss  was 
deadened  and  had  assumed  a  brownish  tint.  In  the  boxes 
where  the  moss  was  green  and  somewhat  loose,  they  were 
still  alive. 

The  temperature  of  the  water  in  which  they  were  hatched 
varied  froui  46°  to  49^,  some  of  the  ice  left  from  the  Nor- 
folk being  vsed  to  keep  it  below  the  latter  point  on  warm 
days.  Mr.  Ramsbottom,  son  of  the  noted  fish  culturist, 
had  charge  of  the  hatching;  but  with  all  his  care  only 


I  II 


I     ;         lllf     : 


\ 


^36  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

three  thousand  fry  were  produced  from  the  thirty  thousand 
eggs  that  arrived  in  sound  condition.     These  were  healthy, 
but  did  not  grow  as  fast  as  some  of  the  young  trout.    While 
the  friends  of  the  enterprise  were  congratulating  themselves 
that  at  any  rate  they  had  three  thousand  young  salmon, 
there  was  a  mysterious  disappearance  of  the  greater  part 
of  the         Some,  it  was  thought,  found  their  way  into  the 
river;  only  about  five  hundred  remained  in  the  pond,  and 
these  also  after  a  while  were  allowed  to  escape  to  the  river. 
To  this  "  small  point,"  as  a  Yankee  would  say,  had  this 
much-talked-of  introduction  of  salmon  into  Australia  been 
"  whittled  down."    The  enterprise,  however,  was  commend- 
able in  those  who  attempted  it,  and  we  say  all  honor  to  its 
patrons. 

There  are  reports  of  grilse  having  returned,  whether 
from  this  small  migration,  or  from  the  hatching  of  subse- 
quent  importations  of  ova,  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn 
definitely.  But  the  five  hundred  even,  if  protected,  will 
in  due  time  make  salmon  abundant.  The  following,  copied 
from  the  Hobart  Town  Mercury,  I  have  clipped  from  the 
report  of  the  Vermont  Fish  Commissioners  :— 

"  The  first  batch  of  salmon  hafe  teen  sent  out  to  sea, 
and  we  shall  have  a  second  batch  to  let  loose  at  the  end 
of  the  year.  When  Mr.  Kamsbottom,  in  charge  of  the  sal- 
mon  ponds  at  the  Plenty,  turned  the  first  batch  into  the 
Derwent  at  tlie  close  of  1865,  he  fixed  upon  February, 
1866,  as  the  date  of  their  return  from  the  sea,  and  they 
have  been  true  to  their  time.     They  began  to  return  in  the 


I     i 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


137 


month  of  February,  and  now  seem  to  be  returning  in  con- 
siderable numbers. 

"  After  enumerating  the  instances  where  salmon  had 
been  seen,  the  writer  concludes  by  saying : — 

"  All  doubts  of  the  return  of  the  first  batch  of  salmon 
in  greater  or  lesser  numbers  are  therefore  at  an  end.  We 
cannot  say  that  the  Derwent  swarms  with  them.  But 
enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  they  have  returned  in 
considerable  numbers." 

The  following  statistical  information  is  from  the  report 
of  the  Vermont  Commissioners  of  Fisheries : — 

Mr.  Ashworth  has  communicated  to  the  International 
Congress  to  Promote  the  Cultivation  of  Fisheries  the  fol- 
lowing table  of  the  number  of  salmon  taken  in  fisheries 
of  the  Galway : — 

In    1853  the    number   taken   was 

''     1854     " 


(< 


u 


« 


(( 


a 


1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 


u 


(( 


a 


a 


u 
u 

« 


« 

(( 
(( 
(( 

« 

(( 
(( 

a 


n 

C( 

a 
(( 
(( 
(( 


1,603 

3,158 

5,540 

5,371 

4,857 

9,639 

9,249 

3,177 

11,051 

15,431 

17,995 

20,512 


During  the  past  two  years  the  number  has  been  in- 
creased, but  we  are  not  able  to  give  the  exact  figures. 
12* 


\ 


138  AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 

Bamodare.~J),,rmg  the  eleventh  year  from  the  time 
these  fishways  were  built,  the  number  of  salmon  taken  in 
these  waters  was  over  ten  thousand. 

StormontfieU-Mv.   Ashworth    also  submitted    tables' 
giving  the  yearly  renta'  of  the  fisheries  on  the  Tay  river 
Scotland,  from  the  year  1828  io  1864.     « In  1828  the  an- 
nual rental  was  £14,574  10.    In  this  year  an  act  was  passed 
which  made  net-fishing  legal  up  to  the  14th  of  September 
instead  of  the  26th  of  August.     The  annual  rental  gradu- 
ally dropped  off  from  year  to  year,  till  1852,  when  it  was 
only  £7973  5«.     The  public  mind  then  became  awakened 
and  the  law  was  repealed,  and  all  fishing  ceased  on  the 
26th  of  August  as  before.     There  was  great  opposition  to 
the  repeal  of  this  law.     The  fishermen  insisted  that  it  was 
an  unjust   abridgment  of  their  rights.      They  could  not 
perceive  the  necessity  of  protecting  the  breeding  salmon 
that  would  be  likely  to  pass  up  during  this  interval  of 
nineteen  days.     They  insisted  that  the  more  they  were 
permitted  to  fish  the  more  fish  they  would  catch.     In  ad- 
dition to  this  wholesome  law,  an  establishment  was  com- 
menced  at  Stormontfield,  for  breeding  salmon  artificially. 
The  annual  rental  steadily  increased  under  this  new  system 
as  follows : — 

"  In  1853  it  was  £8,715   17«. 


1854  " 
1865  " 

"  1858  '* 
1859  " 

"    1860  " 


(( 


(( 


>( 


(i 


9,269     6». 

9,977  13«. 
11,487  2.S. 
J  2,884  Us. 
13,827   10«. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SALMON. 


139 


In  1861  it  was  £14,109  15«. 

"  1862  "     ^*      14,080  12«. 

"  1863  "     «       14,257  16«.  '' 

"  1864  «  «  15,000  00«. 
"  These  oflScial  documents,  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all 
whom  we  heard  speak  upon  the  subject,  and  the  great  abun- 
dance  of  salmon  we  saw  in  the  market  of  England,  convince 
us  that  good  results  have  followed  the  efforts  to  restock  the 
streams  of  Great  Britain.  It  may  be  proper  to  remark  in 
this  connection,  that  we  estimated  the  amount  of  salmon 
for  sale  in  the  London  markets  to,  be  more  than  double  all 
other  fresh-water  fish  on  sale.  The  price  has  been  affected 
by  the  increase  of  supply.  They  were  selling  in  July  last 
at  one  shilling  (twenty-four  cents)  per  pound.  Six  years 
ago  salmon  were  sold  in  London  at  over  a  dollar  per 
pound." 

From  B.  J.  Lane,  one  of  the  special  commissioners  for 
Irish   fisheries,  we  obtained  their  reports  for  a  series  of  • 
years.     In  them  there  is  evidence  of  steady  progress.     In 
the  report  of  1865  they  commence  by  saying: — 

"  We  have  great  satisfaction  in  being  able  to  report  the 
steady  and  progressivo  improvement  of  the  fisheries  com- 
mitted  to  our  charge.  That  improvement  is,  however, 
more  real  than  app'arent.  Its  proofs  are  found  in  the 
shoals  of  smolts  that  descended  to  the  sea  last  spring,  in 
the  multitudes  of  fry  that  swarmed  in  the  rivers  during 
the  summer,  and  in  the  unprecedented  number  of  breeding 
fi^^h  that  have  so  lately  thronged  the  spawning-bods.  Its 
effeotto  appeaf  in  (iiu  inorease  of  the  number  of  men  living 


140 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


on  the  fisheries,  and  of  the  funds  collected  for  the  purpose 
of  preservation.  In  no  previous  year,  as  far  back  as  living 
evidence  will  take  us,  have  the  rivers  of  Ireland  been  so 
well  stocked  with  salmon,  young  and  old.^* 

That  their  anticipations  for  a  continued  increase  were 
well  foundfcd,  is  evident  from  tables  submitted  in  the 
report  for  last  year.  From  them  it  appears  that  the  whole 
amount  of  salmon  shipped  over  the  seven  railroads  in 
Ireland  in  1865,  was  790  tons,  14  owt.,  and  3  qrs.  In 
1866  there  were  shipped  over  the  same  roads,  1092  tons, 
10  cwt.j,  and  2  qrs. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 


141 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 

The  Shad. — Its  instincts,  and  analogies  to  the  snlmon. — ^Migra- 
tions. — Former  abundance. — Incubation  of  its  ova. — Its  growth. — 
Its  introduction  into  rivers  flowing  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  Dr. 
Daniell. — Hatching  its  spawn  at  Holyoke. — Ascent  by  flshways 
over  dam  of  Susquehanna  Canal  Company. — Report  of  Col.  James 
Worrall.     The  Alewi/e. 

An  account  of  the  specific  characteristics  of  this  fish  is 
unnecessary  here,  and  would  scarcely  interest  the  general 
reader ;  we  will,  therefore,  allude  only  to  its  instincts  and 
habits,  bearing  on  the  subject-matter  of  this  chapter. 

The  shad  belongs  to  the  great  family  of  herrings  (CZm- 
peidse),  so  useful,  and  it  might  be  said,  almost  indispensa- 
ble to  man.  Although  there  are  two  varieties  which  visit 
our  rivers,  i.  e.,  the  white  shad,  and  that  with  a  row  of 
spots  on  its  sides,  they  are  known  as  the  same  species  Alosa 
prxstabiKs,  and,  doubtless,  occupy  the  same  spawning- 
grounds,  at  the  same  time,  and  breed  promiscuously  the 
one  with  the  other.  Its  geographical  range  extends  all 
along  our  Atlantic  coast ;  and  through  the  laudable  efforts 
of  Dr.  W.  C.  Daniell,  has  been  introduced  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  by  stocking  the  Alabama  river  by  means  of  arti- 
ficial propagation.  This  gentleman  based  his  hopes  of 
accomplishing  this  enterprise,  on  his  knowledjiie  of  the  un- 
erring instinct  of  this  and  other  anadromoua  fishes,  return- 
ing to  their  native  rivers  to  reproduce  their  spec?   .. 


142 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


The  Clupeidse,  show  many  analogies  to  the  salmon  family, 
not  possessing,  however,  the  adipose  dorsal  fin.  The  most 
noble  species  of  each — the  shad  and  the  salmon, — resemble 
each  other  in  their  migratory  habits,  and  both  attain  that 
rapid  growth  and  excellent  flavor,  for  which  they  are  dis- 
tinguished on  similar  feeding-grounds,  and  likely,  to  a  great 
extent,  on  the  same  food ;  although  the  locality  of  these 
feeding-grounds,  where  they  do  not  overlap,  may  occupy 
different  parallels  of  latitude.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  soft-shelled  Crustacea,  the  young  of  molluscs,  small 
fish,  and  the  lower  orders  of  marine  life,  are  consumed  in 
large  quantities  by  each. 

It  is  generally  believed  now,  that  the  shad,  as  well  as 
the  salmon,  does  not  wander  far  at  sea  from  the  mouth  of 
its  native  river;  and  in  seeking  it  may  coast  along  for 
some  distance  from  the  north  or  south,  and  thus  give  the 
impression  that  the  great  shoal  may  come  from  either  point. 
At  the  north,  the  old  theory  was,  and  still  is  with  many, 
that  shad  come  from  the  south,  while  Dr.  Daniell  alludes 
to  the  supposition  on  the  coast  o  :*  Georgia  (though  he 
doubted  it),  that  they  come  from  the  north. 

Notwithstanding  the  analogies  of  the  shad  and  salmon 
just  mentioned,  it  is  surprising  that  the  former  retains  its 
fleshiness  and  delicate  juices  quite  up  to  the  time  of  spawn- 
ing, while  the  latter  continues  to  fall  off  from  the  day  it 
enters  fresh  water.  It  has  even  been  insisted  on  by  many, 
that  the  longer  a  shad  has  been  in  fresh  water  before 
spawning,  the  better  its  condition  ;  as  many  of  those  taken 
just  before  the  season  closes,  and  high  up  the  rivers,  are 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 


143 


finer  than  the  early  run.  This  is  likely  erroneous,  as  the 
late  run  proceed  at  once  to  their  spawning-grounds,  not 
lingering  as  the  great  body  do,  but  travelling  hundreds  of 
miles  in  a  few  days.  Fresh  run  shad  have  been  taken  at 
the  head  of  tide  on  the  Susquehanna,  with  small  salt-water 
fishes  in  their  stomachs  so  perfect  that  their  species  could 
be  identified.  I  mention  this  fact  as  an  evidence  of  the 
rapidity  with  which  shad  sometimes  travel.  After  they 
enter  fresh  water,  it  is  generally  believed  that  they  do  not 
feed,  as  they  are  invariably  found  with  empty  stomachs. 
It  is  true  that  a  shad  will  rise  at  an  artificial  fly  occasion- 
ally, or  take  a  minnow,  as  I  know  from  experience,  but  on 
opening  them,  these,  ai^well  as  other  anadromous  fishes,  are 
found  without  food.  Amongst  these  I  instance  the  herring, 
the  alewife,  the  salmon,  and  Canadian  sea  trout.  It  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  shad  are  omnivorous,  and  that 
some  of  the  algae  which  are  gelatinous  and  highly  nutritive, 
contribute  to  their  rapid  growth. 

Shad,  at  one  time,  entered  every  river  on  our  coast  which 
furnished  the  requisite  spawning-beds,  and  ascended  until 
some  barrier  opposed  their  course;  every  tributary  was 
crowded  with  them.  Civilization,  and  its  attendant  enter- 
prise, prosecuted  without  provision  for  the  passage  of  the 
fish  to  and  from  their  spawning-grounds,  have  driven  them 
entirely  from  some  rivers,  and  lessened  their  numbers  sp 
materially  in  others,  that  shad  are  now  considered  rather  a 
luxury,  than  one  of  the  chief  staples  of  life,  in  their  season. 
In  view  of  this  alarming  decrease,  many  of  the  States  have 
appointed  Commissioners  of  Fisheries,  and  are  constructing 


144 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


ni 


fishways  over  impassable  dams.  The  New  England  States, 
by  concerted  legislation,  have  a  joint  commission,  which 
gives  us  hope  of  a  speedy  restoration  of  shad  and  salmon  to 
rivers  from  which  they  have  been  expelled. 

In  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Fisheries  for  the 
State  of  Vermont  (October  11,  1866),  it  is  said  of  shad, 
that  they  "  select  their  spawning-grounds  in  bodies  of 
water  deeper  and  warmer  than  those  occupied  by  salmon. 
The  deep  eddies  beldw  dams  and  waterfalls  are  generally 
selected  by  them.  The  eddy  below  Bellows  Falls  was  for- 
merly a  favorite  spawning-ground  for  shad.  The  one 
below  Holyoke  dam  in  Massachusetts,  is  now  occupied  for 
that  purpose,  and  thousands  of  shad  are  now  annually 
caught  at  that  place."  This  was  also  the  case  below  Fair- 
mount  dam  long  after  the  Schuylkill  was  obstructed  there, 
and  hut  for  the  city  gas-works,  it  would  still  have  been  a 
spawning-ground.  Even  now,  a  few  shad  continue  to 
spawn  there.  A  few  years  since,  when  returning  from  the 
dam  where  I  had  been  fishing  for  white  perch,  two  or  three 
young  shad  (likely  pursued  by  rockfish)  leaped  into  my 
boat.  This  occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  and  the  fry 
were  then  between  three  and  four  inches  in  length.  The 
remarks  just  quoted,  as  well  as  my  observations,  are 
corroborated  by  the  experiments  in  artificial  propagation  at 
Holyoke  last  summer,  and  prove  that  shad  instinctively 
deposit  their  spawn  where  it  is  kept  suspended  by  the 
action  of  the  water,  if  such  a  place  is  accessible. 

The  short  term  of  incubation  (60  or  70  hours),  and  the 
fact  of  this  fish  being  so  prolific,  are  palpable  arguments  in 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD. 


145 


favor  of  its  artificial  propagation.  By  such  means  they  can 
be  immediately  introduced  into  upper  waters  and  tribu- 
taries of  our  rivers,  if  fishways  are  provided  for  their 
passage  up  and  down.  In  eddies  where  sun-fish,  perch, 
chub,  roach,  and  other  small  fish  Congregate  (being  led 
thither,  no  doubt,  by  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  the  food 
they  are  to  find),  the  suspended  and  moving  ova  of  shad 
must  offer  easily  attained  morsels,  and  it  is  not  hkely  that 
any  large  proportion  escape  the  ravenous  devourers,  or  that 
one  out  of  five  of  the  helpless  fry  live  to  migrate  to  sea. 
All  Philadelphia  fishermen  know  how  tempting  a  bait  shad 
roe  is  to  any  fish,  from  the  splendid  rockfish  down  to  the 
grovelling  catfish.  That  it  would  pay  to  keep  the  fry  for 
a  short  time  in  ponds  of  river  water,  is  problematical,  but 
well  worth  the  experiment. 

The  Massachusetts  Commissioners  of  Fisheries,  in  their 
last  report,  comparing  the  statistics  of  Mr.  T.  D.  Stoddart, 
as  given  in  the  ^'  Harvest  of  the  Seas,"  with  other  autho- 
rities,  estimate  that  of  the  eggs  of  salmon  which  are  not 
devoured,  one-third  become  parrs,  that  two-thirds  of  the 
parrs  become  smolts,  that  one-twentieth  of  the  smolts  be- 
come grilse,  and  that  one-tenth  of  the  grilse  become  salmon. 
Thus  showing  that  only  one  out  of  fifteen  hundred  eggs 
produces  a  full-grown  salmon  if  deposited  naturally,  and 
the  ova,  fry,  and  grilse  subjected  to  the  usual  chances. 
Or,  that  the  produce  of  twenty  thousand  ova  at  the  end  of 
the   third   year   is  only  seventy  grilse,  seven   full-grown 
salmon,  fifty  thousand  new  parrs,  and  two  hundred  thou- 
sand eggs.     The  twenty   thousand  eggs  thus  producing 
13  K 


146 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


only  seventy-seven  fish  fit  for  the  table  in  three  years.  To 
show  the  advantages  to  bo  derived  from  the  artificial  pro- 
pagation of  shad,  the  report  alluded  to  continues : — 

"  By  the  shad,  thanks  to  the  admirable  experiments  of 
Green,  we  may  illustrate  the  results  of  natural  and  artifi- 
cial propagation  side  by  side.  We  assume  that  the  male 
is  fecund  at  one  year,  that  the  female  carries  spawn  at  two 
years,  and  lays  from  10,000  to  12,000  eggs  to  each  pound 
of  her  weight,  and  that  males  and  females  are  in  equal 
numbers.  Considering  what  is  known  of  the  hatching  of 
the  eggs,  by  the  natural  process,  and  assuming  that  the 
young  are  destroyed  in  the  same  proportion  as  those  of  the 
salmon,  the  following  fractions  may  be  deduced :— • 


f 


I  of  all  eggs  laid,  get  impregnated  and  escape  being 

eaten  by  other  fishes, 
^'jj  of  these  hatch. 

^jj  of  those  hatched  grow  to  one  year. 
^  of  the  yearlings  grow  to  two  years. 
^  of  the  two-year-olds  grow  to  three  yeois. 


"  It  would  hence  appear,  that  of  40,000  eggs  of  shad 
laid  in  the  natural  way,  only  one  arrives  at  the  age  of 
three  years.  Now  suppose  two  pairs  of  adult  shad  should 
come  to  a  river  each  year,  for  three  successive  years,  and 
there  breed;  what  would  they  and  their  descendants 
amount  to  at  the  end  of  that  time  ?  The  following  table, 
calculated  from  the  data  foregoing,  will  answer  this 
question. 


Il 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 
N^atural  Breeding. 


147 


B'Slnning  of  First  Year. 

BegiunlDgofSecoud 
Year. 

Beginning  of  Third 
Year. 

End  of  Third  Tear. 

4  Shad. 
1760  Young. 

)        4  Shad. 
I    1760  Young. 

36  Yearlings. 

f       4  Phad. 
\    17  SO  Youiig. 

:<5  Yearlings, 
f  7  two  year-olds. 
\  1760  Young. 

4  Shad. 
35  Yearlings. 

7  two-year-olda. 

3  three  year-old*. 
35  Yearlings. 

Total 

84 

"Even  at  this  rate,  and  allowing  that  all  shad  die  at 
three  years  old,  the  number  of  three-year-old  fish  in  a 
river,  derived  from  a  single  pair,  would  double  in  about 
eight  years,  although,  for  several  years,  there  would  be,  of 
course,  no  three-year-olds  at  all  in  the  river,  the  original 
pair  having  died.  But,  since  the  number  of  the  largest 
fish  is  always  small,  compared  with  those  of  less  size,  and 
as  these  large  ones  are  most  liable  to  get  caught,  it  may 
well  be  understood  that  the  river  fishermen  think  that  both 
shad  and  salmon  have  *  decreased  in  size,'  and  that  they 
are  obliged  to  make  their  net-meshes  smaller.  The  gain 
by  artificial  propagation  of  shad,  lies  at  the  very  outset, 
and  consists  in  the  increased  percentage  of  spawn  that  may 
thus  be  hatched ;  the  ratio  of  the  artificial  to  the  natural 
being  at  the  most  moderate  estimate,  as  seventy-two  to  one. 
Starting  with  this  difference,  and  taking  the  other  propor- 
tions just  as  in  the  above  table,  we  should  have  the  follow- 
ing results  from  the  artificially  hatched  spawn  of  two  pairs 
of  large  shad,  taken  three  years  in  succession,  added  to 
the  spawn  of  their  mature  progeny  within  that  period :— 


148 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 
Artificial  Breeding. 


Beginning  of  Pint  Tear. 

Beginning  of  Second 
Year. 

Beginning  of  Third 
Year. 

End  of  Third  Tear. 

•126,000  Young. 

♦126,000  Young. 
2620  Yearlings. 

*120,000  Young. 

2620  Yearlinsrs. 
504  two  yciir-olds. 
t3,969,000  Young. 

2f)20  Yearlings. 
604  twoyeiir-olds. 
252  three-year-olds. 
168,7(JO  Yearlings. 

Total 

162,036. 

"  Compared  with  the  foiaier  table,  the  results  in  favor 
of  artificial  propagation  are  as  162,036  to  84,  or,  as  2000 
to  1,  nearly.  This  is  nothing  unbelievable.  *  *  But  it 
is  a  diflference  that  ought  to  call  the  attention  of  all 
thoughtful  persons  to  this  subject.  It  would  be  very  little 
labor  or  expense  to  set  free  100,000,000  young  shad  in  the 
Connecticut,  and  these  might  reasonably  be  supposed  to 
return  us  nearly  a  half  million  of  two-year-old  fish.  Fif- 
teen hundred  large  females  would  yield  the  required 
amount  of  spawn,  and  this  is  not  more  than  a  half  of  one 
per  cent,  of  the  females  now  yearly  taken  in  the  river." 


The  supposition  that  shad  remain  at  sea  two  years  is  yet 
to  be  proven.  I  know,  from  personal  observation,  that 
their  growth  is  rapid,  for  I  have  taken  scores  of  them  in 
August,  when  fishing  in  a  deep  tideway  for  white  perch ; 
the  size  averaging  six  or  seven  inches  in  length,  which  at 
least   equals   that   of   the   generality   of  smolts.     If  the 

*  From  the  eggs  of  two  females  : — f^  of  140,000. 
t  From  the  eggs  of  the  two-year-olds. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  149 

smolt  returns  the  following  summer  a  grilse  of  from  three 
to  five  pounds,  why  may  not  a  shad  attain  a  weight  of  two 
and  a  half  or  three  pounds  in  the  same  time  ? 

In  a  report  of  the  Fish  Commissioners  of  one  of  the 
New  England  States  it  is  said  that  a  few  male  shad  nine 
or  ten  inches  in  length  are  sometimes  taken  in  the  Connec- 
ticut river;  and  it  is  assumed  that  these  have  spent  one 
winter  at  sea.     On  this,  which  is  a  i-iere  supposition,  the 
theory  has  been  started  that  the  females  and  most  of  the 
males  remain  at  sea  two  years.     May  not  these  males  have 
remained  in  the  river  all  winter,  the  milt  developing  in  the 
mean  time  as  it  does  in  the  male  parr  of  the  salmon  ?     We 
kno^^  how  much  shorter  time  is  occupied  in  the  hatching 
of  the  spawn,  and  the  more  rapid  growth  of  the  fry  of  the 
shad.     In  three  or  four  months  a  young  shad  will  grow  to 
a  size  which  a  smolt  only  attains  in  fifteen  or  it  may  be  in 
twenty-seven  months.     With  this  wonderful  precocity  of 
egg  and  fry,  I  cannot  see  why  its  growth  at  sea  should  not 
be  as  much  as  two  or  three  pounds  by  the  next  spring  or 
summer.     If  a  few  thousand  shad  fry  could  be  confined  to  a 
limited  space  by  leading  off  a  side  stream  from  one  of  our 
rivers,  and  marked,  after  they  had  grown  to  five  or  six 
inches,  by  cutting  off  the  hinder  part  of  the  dorsal  fin,  and 
then  turned  loose,  it  is  quite  likely  that  some  of  them  might 
be  taken  in  the  river  near  the  place  of  their  nativity  the 
following  summer,  and  the  problem  be  solved. 

The  following,  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  communicated  through  the 
Smithsonian  Institute,  shows  how  the  pioneer  movement  in 


13* 


150 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


1*'it! 


:>4troducing  shad  into  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  was  made  : — 

"  On  the  Introduction  of  the  American  Shad  into  ike 
Alabama  River.  By  W.  C.  Daniell,  M.  D.  of  Savannah^ 
Qa. — My  success  in  establishing  the  white  shad  in  the 
Alabama  river  being  now  complete,  I  propose  to  give  you 
a  detailed  statement  of  the  matter. 

"  Having  long  doubted  the  generally-received  theory  of 
the  annual  migration  south  from  the  northern  seas,  of  the 
white  shad,  and  of  the  consequent  annual  migration  thither 
of  the  young  fry  hatched  from  the  eggs  deposited  by  their 
parents  in  our  fresh-water  streams,  I  made  inquiry  of  our 
fishermen,  and  learned  that  minute  but  distinctive  difler- 
ences  were  readily  detected  between  the  white  shad  taken  in 
the  Savannah  river  and  those  taken  in  the  Ogeechee  river, 
eighteen  miles  south  of  the  Savannah  river.  Fully  satis- 
fied of  this  fact,  I  readily  concluded  that  the  young  shad 
that  descend  to  the  sea  never  go  so  far  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  descended  as  to  lose  their  connection  with  it,  and 
that  they  ascend  in  the  spring  the  same  river  which  they 
had  descended  as  young  fish  the  previous  summer.  Then 
the  feeding-ground,  so  to  speak,  of  the  shad  is  in  or  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  If  the  young  shad  does  attain  its 
growth  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  and  of  the  Ogeechee 
rivers,  may  there  not  be  equally  good  feeding-grounds  at 
the  mouths  of  the  Alabama  and  other  rivers  flowing  into 
tbd  Gulf  of  Mexico ■('  To  solve  this  question,  I,  with  the 
aid  of  my  friend,  Mark  A.  Cooper,  Esq.,  whose  residence 
on  the  Etowah  river,  in  Barton  county,  supplied  an  eligible 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD. 


151 


locality  for  the  experiment,  in  the  early  summer  of  1848 
had  placed  in  a  small  tributary  of  the  Etowah  river  the 
fecundated  eggs  of  the  white  shad,  which  I  had  myself 
carefully  prepared  at  my  plantation  on  the  Savannah  river, 
ten  miles  above  this  city,  from  living  parents.     These  eggs, 
so  deposited  by  Major  Cooper,  were  daily  visited  by  hL 
until   they  had  all   hatched.     I  sent  another   supply  of 
fecundated  eggs  to  Daniel  Pratt,  Esq.,  at  Prattsville,  near 
Montgomery,  Ala.,  in  1853  or  1854,  as  he  writes  me,  which 
he  deposited  in  a  small  creek.     Inasmuch  as  he  left  home 
soon  after,  and  was  absent  '  some     ceks,'  he  can  only  report 
that  during  that  absence  heavy  rains  raised  the  waters  in 
the  creek,  and  washed  away  the  '  pen'  in  which  he  had 
placed  the  white-shad  eggs  supplied  by  me.     Nothing  can 
therefore  be  safely  affirmed  of  the  success  of  this  second 
deposit,  nor  is  it  important,  as  in  1851  or  1852,  the  white 
shad  had  already  been  taken  in  the  fish-traps  at  the  foot 
of  the  Falls  of  the   Alabama,  at  Wetumpka,  and  of  the 
Black  Warrior,  near  Tuscaloosa,  though  unknown  to  me  at 
the  time  of  supplying  Mr.  Pratt  with  the  fecundated  eggs. 
"  Through  the  kindness  of  a  friend  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
a  shad  taken  from  the  Alabama  river  was  sent  to  Professor 
Holbrook,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  he  wrote  mo  that  he 
'felt  certain'  that  the  fish  received  and  examined  by  him 
was  identical  with  the  white  shad  of  our  Atlantic  rivers. 
I  have  a  letter  from  Charles  T.  Pollard,  Esq.,  of  Mont- 
gomery,  Ala.,  of  6fb  inst.,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  white 
«had  in  the  Alabama  rivor,  he  says:  « They  have  gradually 
increased  in  quantity  since  they  first  appeared,  and  havo 


152 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


year  by  year  increased  ia  size,  until,  to  use  the  words  of  a 
native  of  South  Carolina,  who  lived  many  years  near  Sis- 
tera  Ferry,  on  the  Savannah  river,  they  are  now  equal  to 
the  best  Savannah  river  shad.' 

"  The  white  shad  have  chiefly  been  taken  in  the  fish- 
traps  at  the  foot  of  the  fall  at  Wetumpka  and  near  Tusca- 
loosa. One,  I  am  informed,  has  been  taken  from  a  trap  at 
the  head  of  the  Coosa  river,  near  Rome,  in  this  stp+e,  and 
only  some  sixty  miles  below  the  locality  in  which  the  eggs 
were  deposited  by  Major  Cooper,  in  a  tributary  of  the 
Etowah  river.  I  also  learn  that  some  few  have  been  taken 
with  a  dip-net  near  Selma. 

"  I  think  that  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  white 
shad  may  be  as  successfully  established  in  the  Mississippi 
river  as  it  has  been  in  the  Alabama.  Since  feeding-grounds 
for  that  delicious  fish  exist  at  the  mouth  of  one  river  flow- 
ing into  thz  Uulf  of  Mexico,  may  they  not  exist  at  the 
mouths  of  other  or  all  the  rivers  discharging  into  that 
sea  ?  Time  must  answer  that  question. 
"Savannah,  April  19th,  1866." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  memoranda  concerning 
the  incubation  were  not  given  in  this  communication.  It 
would  have  been  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  compare 
observations  of  this  kind  with  those  of  Mr.  Lyman,  of  the 
Massachusetts  Fish  Commission,  who  says,  "  Green  was  not 
able  to  hatch  more  than  2  per  cent,  of  the  ova  deposited 
on  the  natural  river-bed." 

The  following  account  of  the  hutching  of  shad-ppawn  at 
Holyoko  is  from  the  admirable  report  of  the  cnmmissiou 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD.  153 

just  named.  All  the  facts  connected  with  the  incubation 
are  so  interesting,  and  at  the  same  time  so  new,  that  I 
quote  Mr.  Lyman's  observations  almost  entire : — 

"  Artificial  Breeding  of  >S'/iac?.— Early  in  last  summer, 
Seth  Green  oflFered  to  come,  at  his  own  expense,  and  try  to 
hatch  the  eggs  of  the  shad  at  Holyoke,  provided  the  New 
England  Commissioners  would  furnish  the  necessary  ap- 
paratus. 

"  Green  began  his  experiments  the  first  week  in  July. 
He   put   up  some  hatching-troughs,  like  those   used  for 
trout,  in  a  brook  which  emptied  int(i  the  river.     Having 
taken  the  ripe  fish  with  a  sweep-seine,  he   removed  and 
impregnated  the   ova  in  the  way  already  described   for 
trout.     These,  to  the  number  of  some  millions,  he  spread 
in  boxes  j  but,  to  his  great  mortification,  every  one  of  them 
spoiled.     Nothing  daunted,  he  examined  the  temperature 
of  the  brook,  and  found,  not  only  that  it  was  13°  below 
that  of  the  river  (62°  to  75°),  but  that  it  varied  12°  from 
night  to  day.     This  gave  the  clue  to  success.     Taking  a 
rough  box,  he  knocked  the  bottom  and  part  of  the  ends 
out,  and  replaced  them  by  a  wire  gauze.     In  this  box  the 
eggs  were  laid,  and  it  was  anchored  near  shore,  exposed  to 
a  gentle  current  that  passed  freely  through  the  gauze,  while 
eels  or  fish  were  kept  off.     To  his  great  joy,  the  minute 
embryos  were  hatched  at  the  end  of  sixty  hours,  and  swam 
about  the  box,  like  the  larvao  of  mosquitoes  in  a  cask  of 
stagnant  water.     Still,  though  the  condition  of  success  was 
found,  the  contrivance  was  still  imperfect;  for  the  eggs 
were  drifted  by  the  current  into  the  lower  end  of  the  box, 


1(1 

i;S   III 


154 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTUIIE. 


Fias.  1,  2,  7.— Orocn's  patent  hatching  box  soen  from  the  Bide,  end  and  bottom. 
Scale,  t-20th.  a,  side  floats  3  4"  long ;  2"  by  3"  square,  set  with  screws,  b,  bottom 
croHS  bar,  bevellpd,  to  throw  the  ciirront  upward,  c,  wire-net  bottooi  14  wires  to 
an  inch,  rf,  trap  in  hlml  end  for  escape  of  young  fish,  covered  by  wire-net,  8  to 
an  Inch,  and  with  a  covering  slide,    e,  anchoring  cord.   /,  water-line.    G,  spawn. 


and  heaped  up,  whereby  many  were  spoiled  for  lack  of 
fresh  water  and  motion.  The  best  that  this  box  would  do, 
was  90  per  cent.,  while  often  it  would  hatch  only  70  or  80 
per  cent. 

"The  spawn-box  he  at  last  hit  on  is  as  simple  as  in- 
genious. It  is  merely  a  box  with  a  wire-gauze  bottom,  and 
Steadied  in  the  water  by  two  float-bars,  screwed  to  its  sides. 
These  float-bars  are  attached,  not  parallel  to  the  top  line 
of  the  box,  but  at  an  angle  to  it,  which  makes  the  box 
float  with  one  end  tilted  up,  and  the  current  striking  the 
gauze  bottom  at  an  angle,  is  deflected  upwards,  and  makes 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  155 

such  a  boiling  within  as  keeps  the  light  shad  eggs  con- 
stantly free  and  buoyed  up.  The  result  was  a  triumph. 
Out  of  10,000  ova  placed  in  this  contrivance,  all  but  seven 
hatched.  In  spite  of  these  delays,  and  of  the  imperfect 
means  at  hand  for  taking  the  fish,  Green  succeeded  in 
hatching  and  setting  free  in  the  river  many  millions  of 
these  tiny  fry. 

"As  no  way  is  now  known  of  keeping  shad  in  ponds  or 
pools,  they  must  be  watched  at  their   breeding-grounds, 
and  when   the  spawn  begins   to  flow  fre-ly  from  them, 
operations  may  commence.     The  fishing  must  take  place 
by  night,  because  (near  Hadley  Falls,  at  any  rate)  no  ripe 
females  are  captured  by  day;  those  taken  are  all  spent,  or 
not  yet  ready  to  lay.     This  may  be  because  they  are  in  the 
deep  holes,  spawning,  or  because  they  are  above,  in  the 
quick  water.     The  seine  must  not  be  hauled  quite  ashore, 
but  the  bight  of  it  must  remain  in  the  shallow  water,  that 
the  fish  may  be  kept  alive.     Thence  they  are  taken  out, 
and  the  spawn  impregnated  in  a  tub,  or  a  large  pan  of 
water.     Many  scales  will  fall  in  the  water,  and  must  be 
carefully  picked  out,  before  the  ova  are  distributed  in  the 
floating  boxes,  wherein  they  may  lie  about  one-fourth  of  an 
inch  deep.     The  boxes  must  be  lashed  end  to  end,  in  lines 
of  convenient  length,  and  it  is  well  to  surround  them  with 
a  log   boom,  to  keep  oflF  rubbish   brought   down  by  the 
stream.     They  should   be   placed   conveniently  near  the 
shore,  in  a  gentle  current,  but  not  so  near  as  to  risk  being 
left  dry  by  a  fall  of  the  river.     Thej   viU  now  appear  as 
if  they  had  nothing  in  them,  for  the  eggs  are  almost  as 


166  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURB. 

transparent  as  the  water  itself;  but  if  they  turn  milky, 

and  look  like  half-boiled  sago,  they  are  spoiled. 

<'The  contents  are   not,  however,  to  be  thrown  away, 
without  taking  up  some  in  the  hand,  when  it  will  likely 
appear  that  but  a  small  part  are  addled,  while  the  rest  re- 
main transparent.     With  further  progress  the  embryo  may, 
with  a  weak  glass,  be  easily  seen  moving  in  the  egg,  which 
then  is  not  so  clear,  and  at  the  end  of  sixty  hours  (with 
sunshine  and  water  at  75°),  the  box  will  be  found  alive 
with  tiny  fry,  almost  transparent,  except  the  eyes,  swim- 
ming freely,  with  their  heads  up  stream.     In  confinement 
they  cannot  be  kept,  because  the  yolk-sac  does  not  suffice 
for  their  support  for  more  than  one  or  two  days.     But  care 
must  be  taken  to  liberate  them  in  a  mfe  place.     Green 
observed  that,  on  setting  them  free  among  the  shallows 
near  shore,  the  dace  {Argyreus)  and  other  little  fishes 
rushed  to  the  spot,  and  commenced  jumping  at  them.     In 
the  stomach  of  a  dace,  he  found  fourteen  shad  fry.     Then, 
by  a  series  of  most  ingenious  experiments,  he  discovered 
that  the  fry,  so  far  from  frequenting  the  shallows,  like 
many  minnows,  made  directly  for  the  main  current,  in  mid- 
river.     How  different  this  from  the  young  trouts  that  lie 
aJmost  helpless  for  forty-five  days,  and  then  are  fain  to  hide 
behind  stones  and  roots  !     Whereas,  these  minute,  trans- 
parent,  gelatinous  things  push  boldly  for  the  deep,  swift 
current,  where  they  are  too  insignificant  to  be  attacked  by 
the  great  fishes.     Will  the  physicists  tell  us  what  '  corre- 
lation and  conservation  of  force'  produces  thh;,  or  will  the 
Darwinians  set  forth  how,  some  millions  of  }ear8  gone,  a 
narfinnlar  shiid  ^rv,  finding  by  accident  th-.t  he  did  not  get 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD. 


167 


eaten  in  deep  water,  transmitted  a  deep-water  instinct  to 

his  children,  who  thereby  flourished,  while  the  shoal-water 

fry  got  in  due  time  exterminated  ? 

"  So  the  fry  must  be  let  go  in  the  proper  way  by  towing 

the  boxes  into  mid  stream,  or  by  liberating  them  during 
the  night,  when  their  enemies  do  not  feed.  In  either  case, 
the  trap-slide  must  be  raised,  when  they  will  be  carried 
gradually  through  the  coarse  netting  by  the  current. 
This  operation  must  be  performed  as  soon  as  all  the  ova  are 
hatched  out.  There  ends  the  nursery  care;  for  we  kaow 
no  method  of  keeping  the  young  till  they  have  gained  size 
and  strength.  What  we  may  hope  to  avoid  is,  the  enor- 
mous  loss  which  the  eggs  themselves  suff-er,  when  deposited 
by  the  natural  method.* 

"  The  ovaries  of  a  full-grown  shad  weigh  at  the  spawn- 
ing  season  about  thirteen  ounces,  without  the  membranes. 
With  a  common  lens,  three  sizes  of  ova  are  at  once  distin- 
guished.  The  first  have  a  diameter  of  ^-g^  to  ^-g^  of  an 
inch.  These  are  transparent  and  ready  to  be  laid;  the 
second,  y^5  to  ^^^  of  an  inch;  the  third,  ^§„  of  an  inch. 
These  two  smaller  sizes  are  opaque;  they  are  still  found 
after  the  fish'  hns  spawned,  and  are  the  crops  ready  to 
mature  the  next  year  and  the  year  after.    This  state  of  the 


*  With  the  utmost  care  to  secure  every  favorable  surrounding, 
Green  was  never  able  to  hatch  more  than  two  per  cent,  on  the 
natural  river-bed.  Only  those  eggs  hatched  that  chanced  to  catch 
in  an  angle  of  the  gravel,  where  they  had  the  current  all  about 
them.  This  does  not  take  into  the  account  those  that  are  not  im- 
pregnated,  or  are  devoured,  or  covered  by  mud,  &c.,  &c. 
1^  -  • 


158 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


ovary  has  its  parallel  in  the  turtle,  and  possibly  in  all  of 
the  vertebrata. 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the  microscope 
shows  other  and  smaller  ovarian  eggs.  An  ovary  of  the 
size  above  mentioned  contains  about  70,000  ova,  ready  to 
be  laid.  Their  diameter  increases,  as  soon  as  they  are  put 
in  water  and  impregnated,  from  yg^  to  -^^  of  an  inch. 
This  is  by  the  endosmosis  of  water  between  the  yolk  and 
the  shell  membrane.*  Of  the  embryonic  development,  we 
have,  as  yet,  only  an  imperfect  outline  to  present.  Forty- 
one  hours  after  impregnation,  the  condition  of  the  embryo 
is,  on  the  whole,  in  advance  of  that  of  coregonus  on  the 
thirty-third  day. ,  The  under  surface,  from  the  nose  to  the 
beginning  of  the  ventral,  is  in  close  contact  with  the  yolk, 
which  is  composed  of  a  great  number  of  rounded  divisions, 
such  as  are  seen  in  the  complete  segmentation  of  that 
body,  while  its  surface  is  flecked  with  pigment  stars,  of 
which  a  less  number  may  be  distinguished  on  the  forward 
part  of  the  trunk.  That  part  of  the  embryo  which  swings 
free  makes  a  spiral  half  turn,  so  that  the  dorsal  fin  is 
turned  toward,  instead  of  from,  the  yolk-sac.  The  head, 
which  is  pointed  in  front,  and  flattened,  bears  no  res'>m- 
blace  to  that  of  the  grown  animal,  and  it  would  be,  perhaps, 
fanciful  to  compare  it  eve  lo  such  forms  as  Petromyzon 
(Lamprey  eel.)     A  large  portion  of  it  is  occupied  by  the 


*  The  same  takes  place  in  a  less  degree  in  the  egg  of  Coregonus 
(white  fish.)  (Carl  Vogt,  loc.  cit.  p.  27,  PI.  I.  fig.  9.)  Accus- 
tomed only  to  eggs  of  trout,  Green  was  much  astonished  to  behold 
the  mass  of  ova  swell  to  near  twice  its  first  bulk. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 


159 


eye,  which  fills  proportionately  at  least  four  times  more 
space  than  in  the  adult.     The  choroid  coat,  not  yet  closed 
below,  partly  encircles  the  crystalline  lens,  above  which 
may  be  distinguished  a  clear  space,  which  is  a  portion  of 
the  vitreous  humor.     The  form  of  the  brain  may  already 
be  distinguished,  especially  when  fore-shortened  from  the 
front.     It  is  probable  that  the  pectoral  fin  already  exists, 
but,  from  the  extreme  transparency  of  the  tissues,  its  out- 
lihe  could  not  be  caught.     From  the  well-marked  nuchal 
bow,  the  flattened  body  tapers  gradually  to  a  fine  point,  and 
is  bordered,  above  and  below,  by  an  embryonic  dorsal  and 
ventral  which  spread  into  a  spatula-like  caudal  fin,  and  it 
should  be  observed,  that  neither  in  this  stage  nor  in  the 
newly-hatched,  does  there  exist  any  unevenness  of  the 
margins  of  these  fins,  that  should  indicate  their  approach- 
ing separation ;  whereas,  the  newly-hatched  salmon  already 
shows  very  distinct  dorsal,  adipose,  caudal,  anal,  and  ven- 
tral fins ;  and  the  little  Coregonus,  though  less  advanced  in 
this  respect,  shows  plainly  the  boundaries  of  these  organs. 
Near  the  base  of  the  caudal  is  now  to  be  seen  the  end  of 
the  alimentary  canal,  passing  at  an  angle  across  the  breadth 
of  the  fin.     The  heart  may  be  observed  beating,  and  the 
embryo  itself  moves  itself  round  and  round  within   its 
prison,  by  a  series  of  convulsive  jerks.     This  motion  is 
called  by  the  breeders,  ' life  in  the  egg.'* 


*  In  this  stage  Green  succeeded  in  keeping  eggs  aHve  in  damp 
moss  for  six  days,  in  a  low  temperature.  But  they  are  very  hard 
to  transport  long  distances,  and  cannot  be  hatched  in  cold  water. 


160 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Ili!!l 


"  The  specific  gravity  of  the  eggs  at  all  stages  is  very 
small — barely  enr.»!gh  {,o  sink  them  in  still  water — a  great 
contrast  to  ^  ^ .  P  <  lie  trout,  which  i^o  down  almost  like 
shot. 

"  The  newly-hatched  young  is  //^  of  an  inch  long.  It 
swims  actively  by  a  continuous  and  rapid  vibration  of  the 
body,  and  keeps  its  head  to  the  canent,  perhaps  to  get  the 
food  that  is  carried  past.*  The  yolk-sac,  whose  longer 
diameter,  already  in  the  egg,  was  parallel  with  the  body, 
now  appears  still  more  ovoid  in  form.  The  pectoral  fin  is 
easily  seen,  and  the  finger-like  canals  in  it  indicate  that  its 
rays  are  forming.  The  embryonic,  dorsal,  caudal,  and  ven- 
tral fins  are  continuous  one  with  another,  and  extend  round 
the  whole  body,  back  of  the  yolk-sac.  In  the  caudal  a 
few  faint,  radiating  fibres  indicate  the  formation  of  rays. 
The  choroid  has  completed  its  circle,  and  the  eye  has 
nearly  the  outward  look  of  that  in  the  adult.  Along  the 
course  of  the  alimentary  canal,  quite  to  the  anal  opening, 
and  over  the  yolk-sac,  the  pigment  stars  are  more  numerous 
and  defined,  A  littia  indentation  indicates  the  mouth, 
which  lies  under  the  eye,  and  opens  as  a  curved  slit.  The 
general  mass  of  the  brain  is  easi'v  made  out.  Along  the 
centre  of  the  body,  a  more  translucent  stripe  indicates  the 
dorsal  cord,  above  which  the  range  of  muscular  bundles 
begins  to  be  distinct. 


*'  The  current  carries  the  fry  gradually  seaward.  Hence  it  is, 
that  since  the  erection  of  the  Holyoke  dam,  young  shad  are  no 
more  seen  there  ;  because,  by  the  time  they  are  large  enough  to  be 
noticed,  they  have  all  drifted  lower  down  the  river. 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD.  igj 

"  Within  eighty-two  hours  after  hatching,  great  develop, 
ment  has  taken  place.     The  tail,  though  not  forked,  haB 
taken  on  its  triangular  form,  and  is  n.ade  up  of  fine,  radiat- 
ing  fibres.     The  embryonic  dorsal  and  ventral  are  reduced 
in  breadth,  whereby  the  anal  opening  is  brought  close  to 
the  body,  the  base  muscles  of  the  true  dorsal  may  also 
be  seen  as  it  begins  to  form.     Along  the  body  the  trans- 
verse  muscles  show  themselves  distinctly  both  above  and 
below  the  lateral  line.     The  pectoral  fins  have  now  their 
fibres  complete,  and  resemble  two  little  flat  brushes.     The 
mouth  is  pushing  forward  towards  its  normal  place.     It 
seems  to  have,  in  the  under  lip,  a  notch,  perhaps  the 
point  of  future  union  of  the  mamillaries.     The  yolk-sac  no 
longor  plays  an  important  part,  and  is  reduced  to  very  small 
dimensions.     But  the  most  striking  change  is  the  develop, 
ment  of  gills,  four  on  a  side,  and  each  in  its  gill-pouch. 
Ihe  gills  themselves  can  be  distinguished,  like  little  bows 
along  which  run  their  veins  and  arteries.     These,  together 
with  the  size  and  position  of  the  eyes,  give  the  under  sur- 
face  of  the  head  rather  the  look  of  that  of  a  skate  embryo 
than  of  a  shad. 

-  Such  is  a  hasty  sketch  of  three  periods  of  embryonic 
life  m  this  Alosa.  Of  the  young,  at  three  months,  outlines 
have  already  been  given.*  It  should  be  added,  that  their 
jaws  ure,  at  this  age,  rrmed  with  fine,  sharp,  slightly 
curved  teeth,  nearly  continuous  along  the  upper  maxillary 
and  intermaxillary  pieces,  with  a  few  at  the  point  of  the 

*  See  plate  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter. 


\ 


162 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


lower  maxillaries.  None,  apparently,  on  the  vomer.  These 
are  necessary  for  the  capture  of  the  water  beetles  that  then 
constitute  a  part  of  their  food.  The  jaws  of  the  adult  are, 
as  is  well  known,  smooth. 

"  Of  the  further  growth  of  the  shad,  we  cannot  as  yet 
speak   with    certainty,   although    there   are   pretty  good 
grounds  for  an  opinion.     Mr.  Frederic  Kussell,  late  Com- 
missioner from  Connecticut,  first  called  attention  to  some 
small  Alosse,  about  nine  inches  long,  called  by  the  fisher- 
men, '  chicken  shad,*  or  '  Connecticut  river  alewives.'     He 
was  led  to  consider  them  partly  grown  fishes,  from  the  fact 
that  they  all  were  males.     Of  many  hundreds  examined, 
only  one  female  could  be  found,  and  there  the  ova  were  not 
developed.     The  fish  taken  for  artificial  breeding  at  Holy- 
oke  were  then  compared,  and  it  was  found  that  they  were 
of  three,  if  not  of  four  distinct  sets  or  sizes.     The  smallest 
were  the  '  chicken  shad,'  and  were  all  males;  the  next  were 
but  half  the   size   of  the   largest,  and   were   males   and 
females  j  so  also  were  the  largest  of  all.     Hence  we  may  at 
least  guess,  that  the  young  of  the  autumn  go  down,  as  min- 
nows of  four  inches,  to  the  sea.    The  next  spring  the  males 
are  fecund  (so  too  in  the  salmon  parr),  and  seek  the  fresh 
water,  urged  by  the  sexual  instinct,  and  are  the  chicken 
shad  or  yearlings.     Not  so  the  females,  which,  not  yet 
sexually  developed,  remain  in  the  salt  water,  or  in  the 
estuaries.     When  two  years  old  both  sexes  are  fecund  and 
seek  the  river  together.     These  are  the  half-grown  or  two- 
year-olds.     The  third  season  they  are  large  fish,  and  may 
be  termed  three-year-olds.     But  these  three-year-olds  have, 


n 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  1^3 

in  the  ovary,  at  least  two  crops  of  ef,gs  ready,  though 
undeveloped,  for  the  next  two  seasons.  N'ature  does  not 
prepare  her  seed  only  to  die !  Old  fish  become  barren. 
These  two  crops  of  eggs  are  to  be  laid,  and  for  that  the  fish 
must  live  at  least  two  years  more.  The  impression  that 
prevails  among  fishermen,  both  here  and  in  Europe,  that 
shad  die  after  spawning,  the  first  year,  comes  only  from  the 
familiar  fact  that  fishes  are  in  meagre  condition  after  spawn- 
ing, and  that  some  of  the  weaker  probably  do  die,  and  are 
seen  floating.  There  was  a  similar  idea  about  lamprey  eels, 
which  was  to  the  efiTect  that  they  made  fast  by  their  sucker 
and  then  slowly  decayed."* 


*  Concerning  the  indisposition  of  some  persons  to  believe  in  the 
utility  of  fishways,  Mr.  Lyman,  one  of  the  Massachusetts  Fish  Com- 
missioners,  gives  the  following  : 

"  When  the  fishway  at  Lowell  was  building,  some  of  the  factory 
superintendents  (very  intelligent  men  about  factories),  said,  that 
the  fish  must  have  a  schoolmaster  to  teach  them  to  go  up  those  steps  ! 
The  next  year  shad  and  salmon  did  go  up,  and  without  any  school- 
master. The  nearer  we  get  to  the  truth,  the  more  it  stands  out, 
that  artificial  propagation  and  free  passage  over  dams,  are  the  two 
great  conditions  of  restocking  rivers." 

The  same  writer  takes  the  subjoined  "fling"  at  certain  slow, 
cautious  peopla : — 

"  This  feeling  gets  strength  from  the  loose  impression  that  game, 
like  the  Indian,  is  doomed,  and  that  the  last  shad  or  trout  is  soon 
to  be  caught,— a  sort  of  Dr.  Fear-the -worst  theory,— 

'  Tho  former  did  maintain 
The  man  would  take  all  medicine  in  vain.' 

"  This  kind  of  sentiment  is  shown  by  the  uncomprehensive  way 


164 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


The  subjoined  reports  for  the  years  1866  and  1867,  made 
by  Col.  James  Worrall,  the  Commissioner  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  under  the  Act  of  March  30th 
1866,  contain  information  of  much  interest  to  the  citizens 
of  the  state.  His  description  of  the  fishway  at  the  Colum- 
bia  dam,  will  show  the  reader  how  such  means  of  passage 
for  the  shad  are  con:jructed,  and  how  the  fish  find  their 
way  up.  He  also  explains  the  reason  of  the  delay  in  build- 
ing fishways  at  other  dams  on  the  Susquehanna,  as  pro- 
vided for  under  the  above  Act.  For  these  reasons  I  have 
deemed  it  advisable  to  give  both  of  his  reports  in  full  :— 

r. 

*«  Hakbisburo,  Pa.,  December  3d  1866. 
"  Dear  Sir  :— In  fulfilling  the  duties  devolved  upon  me 
under  the  act  of  80th  March  1866,  '  relating  to  the  pass- 
age of  fish  along  the  Susquehanna  and  certain  of  its  tribu- 
taries,' I  have  the  honor  to  report  as  follows  : 


in  which  legislative  committees  often  receive  applications  from  peo- 
pie  who  petition  for  tlie  control  of  particular  streams,  or  creeks,  or 
ponds,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  fish  or  oysters  in  a  systematic  and 
economical  way.  At  once  the  members  begin  to  ask  whether  this 
control  would  not  abrogate  some  grant  of  the  Pequot  Indians  to 
Fear-the-Lord  Crowell,  in  the  year  1639;  or  some  ancient  right 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Harwich  Centre  to  dig  one  peck  of  quahogs 
per  man  on  that  particular  ground,. 

"  These  same  committee-men  would  not  treat  a  petition  for  a 
railroad  or  a  cotton-mill  in  this  way,  and  simply  because  they 
believe  iu  the  success  of  a  railroad  or  of  a  mill,  bat  they  do  not 
believe  in  and  do  not  know  about  the  success  of  fish  or  oysters." 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  155 

« Immediately  after  my  appointment,  by  your  Excel- 
lenoy,  I  coi^sulted  all  the  authorities  on  the  subject  within 
my  reach,  and  finally  devised  a  plan  which  was  in  the  form 
of  steps  commencing  at  the  comb  of  the  dam,  and  falling 
or  stepping  down,  one  after  another,  at  the  rate  of  six 
inches  per  step;  eroh  of  the.o  steps  being  also  a  trough 
ten  feet  wide,  to  contain  a  constant  supply  of  water  two 
feet  deep  for  the  fish  to  rest  in  during  their  ascent. 

"  The  width  of  the  flight  of  steps  was  to  be  from  two 
hundred  feet  on  the  main  stem  of  the  Susquehanna  to  a 
proportional  width  for  its  smaller  tributaries,  and  the  whole 
was  to  be  constructed  of  good  substantial  crib  work,  such 
Bs  is  employed  and  approved  in  the  construction  of  dams 
in  Pennsylvania. 

"  I  had  this  plan  carefully  draughted  and  specified,  and 
before  the  ist  of  June  I  sent  it  in,  plan  ard  specification, 
to  the  following  corporations  owning  dams  on  the  streams 
mentioned,  namely:   The   Susquehanna  Canal  Company; 
The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company;  The  West  Branch 
Canal  Company;  The  Wyoming  Valley  Canal  Comj^any, 
and  The  North  Branch  Canal  Company.     As  these  corpo- 
rations owned  all  the  lower  dams  on  the  river,  and  which, 
if  not  altered  for  the  passage  of  fish,  there  would  be  no 
use  in  altering  dams  located  above  them,  and  as  I  knew 
that  they  all,  except  the  Susquehanna  Canal   Company, 
held  their  property  by  purchase  from  the  state,  without 
encumbrance,  as  alleged,  and  deemed  themselves,  there- 
fore,  exempt  from  the  operation  of  the  law,  I  did  not 
notify  individuals  or  corporations  owning  dams  above  them ; 


if  ifHl 


166 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


for  even  should  such  accept  notice,  comply  with  the  law 
and  alter  their  dams,  fish  would  be  debarred  from  reaching 
them  by  the  neglected  dams  below,  and  there  would  be 
expense  and  trouble  for  nothing. 

"  In  pursuing  this  course  I  have  not  obeyed  the  letter 
of  the  law,  but  I  trust  to  be  forgiven  when  the  circum- 
stances are  considered, 

"  My  surmises  in  respect  to  these  companies  proved  to 
be  correct.  None,  except  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany, regularly  acknowledged  even  to  have  received  my 
notification,  nor  have  I  heard  from  any  of  them  since. 

"  The  Susquehanna  Canal  Company,  owning  the  dam  at 
Columbia,  however,  have  complied  with  the  law  in  every 
respect,  as  far  as  I  was  able  to  direct  them  how  to  do  so. 

"  On  or  about  the  1st  of  June  I  met  Mr.  B.  Andrews 
Knight,  their  president,  at  Columbia,  and  conferred  with 
him  on  the  subject,  and  he  expressed  his  willingness  to 
carry  out  the  plan,  but  suggested  some  modifications, 
which  I  did  not  like  to  accept,  until  I  could  sustain  my- 
self by  other  authorities  on  the  subject,  and  our  meeting 
was  adjourned  until  in  July,  that  I  might  be  enabled  in 
the  mean  time  to  do  so. 

"  I  proceeded  immediately  to  the  New  England  States  j 
conferred  with  the  chairman  of  the  Fish  Committee  of  the 
Legislature  of  Connecticut,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Avery,  and  pre- 
senting credentials  from  your  Excellency  to  the  Governor 
of  Maasachusetts,  Governor  Bullock,  was  introduced  by  the 
Hon.  Oliver  Warner,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  of 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  157 

Massachusetts,  to  Theodore  Lyman,  Esq.,  who  has  charge 
of  the  subject  in  that  state. 

"  In  Connecticut  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Avery  that  they 
did  not  consider  the  river  (the  Connecticut)  obstructed  by 
any  works  of  theirs  which  existed  in  it,  and  that  they  so 
intended  to  answer  the  state  of  New  Hampshire,  that 
state  having  officially  requested  to  know  if  any  such  ob- 
structions  existed. 

"  In  Massachusetts  I  found  that  they  had  not  advanced 
in  these  improvements  further  than  we  had,  they  being 
just  then  engaged  in  devising  plans  for  the  Merrimac,  and* 
perhaps  other  of  their  streams. 

"They,  however,  had  given  intelligent  consideration  to 
the  subject. 

"Mr.  Lyman  is  well  known  as  a  naturalist,  and  he  had 
availed  himself  of  consultations  with  Prof  Agassiz,  whose 
reputation,  I  need  not  say,  is,  in  the  same  pursuit,  world 
wide.  I  could  not  learn  that  in  the  other  states  of  New 
England  I  would  be  able  to  add  to  the  information  obtain- 
able from  these  high  sources  in  Massachusetts,  so  I  pro- 
ceeded no  further  than  Boston. 

*'  In  July  I  met  Mr.  Preddent  Knight  again  on  the  dam 
at  Columbia,  and  there,  in  consultation  with  himself  and 
Mr.  Daniel  Shure,  the  able  superintendent  of  the  Susque- 
hanna Canal,  a  plan  was  devised,  chie%  by  Mr.  Shure, 
with  some  modifications  suggested  by  my  New  England 
experience,  which  plan  has  been  since  carried  out,  at  a 
cost  of  some  «5000  to  that  company,  and  I  have  reason  to 
hope  that  it  will  prove  to  be  a  '  success,' 


168 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


"If  my  hope  should  prove  well-founded,  some  small 
number  of  shad  will  make  their  way  as  far  up  the  river 
next  spring  as  Duncan's  island,  a  distance  of  nearly  fifty 
miles  higher  up  than  they  have  been  able  to  reach  for 
many  years,  and  this  number  will  increase  from  year  to 
year,  if  not  too  much  thinned  out  by  fishing,  until  we  may 
hope  for  an  adequte  supply  of  this  spring  delicacy,  being 
brought  back  to  localities  so  long  unjustly  deprived  of  it. 

"I  say  small  number,  for  I  have  recently  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Lyman,  of  Massachusetts,  the  gentleman 
,  before  alluded  to,  to  whom  I  had  communicated  the  progress 
of  our  operations,  warning  me  that  I  <  must  not  be  disap- 
pointed if  my  shad  do  not  go  up  so  fast  or  so  far  as  I  hope. 
It  is  not  the  tendency  usually  of  fish  to  make  much  exertion 
to  pass  beyond  the  beds  where  they  were  '••^«wned,'  and  he 
particularly  wishes  me  to  'causa  re     ^ -^      -aervations  to 
be  made  on  this  very  point,  and  if  the  fish  do  go  over  the 
dam  and  pass  far  above  it  in  really  large  numbers,  that  I 
would  tell  him  of  it,  as  it  would  be  a  point  of  interest  in 
natural  history* — (8«e  last  number  (October  or  November) 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural 
Science,  on  the  planting  of  shad  In  the  Alabama  river), 
and  he  adds,  '  if  they  do  wt  go  freely  over,  being  satisfied 
that  they  could  if  they  dmge,  you  must  transport  some 
from  below  into  the  basin  of  the  dam  above,  and  then  let 
your  legislature  forbid    fishing  above   the   dam   for  five 
years.     That  is  the  term  allowed  In  Maine  to  restore  bar- 
ren rivers.' 

"  I  think  we  need  hardly  take  the  trouble  to  transplant 


CULTUKE  OF  THE  SHAD, 


169 


fish  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  leveis,  for  once  or  twice 
that  the  Columbia  dam  has  beer*  broken,  they  have  made 
their  way  above  it,  and  have  been  caught  in  small  numbers 
at  Duncan's  island. 

"  But  what  Mr.  Lyman  says  is  nevertheless  true ;  that 
the  fish  will  make  almost  irrepressible  exertions  to  return 
to  the  beds  where  they  were  spawned,  while  to  pass  beyond 
there,  they  will  take  but  little  trouble. 

"  The  spawn  (fry)  of  the  few,  however,  that  make  their 
way  up,  will  return  by  resistless  instinct  in  the  following 
season,  and  it  may  be  well  to  consider  his  other  recom- 
mendation, that  the  fishing  above  the  dam  should  be  some- 
what restricted  by  legislative  enactment  for  a  limited 
period,  until  our  great  Susquehanna  shall  be  cured  of 
'  barrenness.' 

"  It  remains  for  me  to  describe  t  you  the  device  which 
has  been  inserted  in  the  Columbia  dam. 

"  The  dam  itself  is  about  six  feet  high,  and  about  a  mile 
and  a  third  long,  and  is  located  on  a  rough,  rocky  bed. 
The  channel  below  is  rapid  and  much  interrupted  by  large 
rocks,  worn  by  the  water.  The  fish  channels  in  these 
rapids  are  tortuous  and  much  spread  over  the  whole  bed 
of  the  stream. 

"  A  point  was  selected  within  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  York  county  shore,  where  the  fish  '  most  do  congre- 
gate' from  all  the  lower  channels  every  spring,  uad  where 
many  of  '  .ei.  have  been  annu  ''y  ^akenj  and  at  this 
placu  a  seocifn;,  forty  feet  long,  was  cut  clean  out  of  the 
15 


J70 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


dam,  a  coffer  dam  li?ving  been  first  erected  above  to  keep 
off  the  water. 

"  In  this  opening,  a  new  subdam  was  erected,  so  that  ita 
comb  or  highest  elevation  would  about  equal  the  level  of 
the  water  below  the  principal  dam  when  the  fish  are  run- 
ning (a  little  ovc  r  three  feet  ^ay).  The  lower  slope  of  this 
subdam  was  placed  at  an  inclination  of  one  in  fifteen,  and 
the  sides  of  the  aperture  in  the  main  dam  were  dentated 
or  framed  in  a  series  of  offsets,  so  as  to  promote  the  forma- 
tion of  eddies  in  the  current  passing  over  the  subdam. 

"  When  the  fish  are  running  then,  in  the  spring,  the 
water  in  the  r.perture  will  be  under  the  influence  of  gra- 
vity in  oppos  t<!  dire>?tion3.  The  lower  water  will  try  to 
attain  its  level,  the  top  of  the  subdam  and  the  upper  water 
rushing  through  the  aperture  will  meet  and  certainly  drive 
it  back,  but  with  a  force  considerably  impeded  by  the 
cushion,  so  to  speak,  of  lower  water. 

"  The  fish  will  be  nosing  along  the  foot  of  the  main  dam, 
as  is  their  wont,  and  finding  its  passage  open,  agitated 
though  it  be  by  these  contending  currents,  they  will 
endeavor  to  pass  up,  and  let  us  hope  they  will  succeed. 
But  should  tliey  fail  in  the  first  few  trials,  there  are  the 
recesses  at  the  sides  where  the  eddies  are  sure  to  be  formed, 
and  where  they  mav  gather  strength  for  a  renewal  of  the 
trial.  I  am  informed,  by  persons  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Columbia,  who  have  seen  this  aperture  of  ours  with  the 
water  running  through  it,  that  there  are  many  passages  in 
the  Oonewago  rapids  below  which  are  much  more  difficult 
of  ascent  than  this  isj  and  which,  of  course,  the  fish  must 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 


171 


easily  pass,  or  they  would  not  be  caught,  as  they  now  are, 
at  the  base  of  the  Columbia  dam,  their  next  obstacL\ 

"Such  is  the  result  of  our  labors  at  the  Columbia  dam, 
and  we  have  but  to  wait  now  until  spring  to  see  what 
action  the  fish,  our  long  absent  friends,  will  take  upon  the 
subject. 

"  If  our  inducements  are  not  suflScient,  we  may,  in  the 
future,  be  able  to  improve  upon  them,  and  Mr.  President 
Knight  has  expressed  his  willingness  to  render  all  reason- 
able aid  in  making  such  improvements  as,  after  experiment, 
may  seem  to  be  required. 

'*  The  next  two  dams  in  streams,  contemplated  by  the 
act,  are  first:  the  Middletown  Feeder  dam,  crossing  the 
Swatara  a  short  distance  from  its  mouth,  and  the  Duncan's 
Island  dam,  crossing  the  Susquehanna  at  or  near  Clark's 
Ferry.     These  both  belong  to  the  Pennsylvania  Kailroad 
Company,  whom  I  notified,  according  to  law,  and   who 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  the  notification.     On  Novem- 
ber the  1st,  nothing  had  been  done  to  either  of  these  dams, 
and  immediately  after  that  lay  I  had  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  district  attorney  of  Bamphin  county,  J.  W.  Simon- 
ton,  Esq.,  a  written  account  of  my  proceedings.     If  the 
case  be  carried  to  the  courts,  and  a  decision  smmld  be  had 
against  the  constitutionality  of  the  act,  there  will  be  no 
use  in  prosecuting  the  companies  higher  up  tie  «to-eam 
If  the  act  should  hold,   and  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company  be  compelled  to  alter  ite  dams,  the  point  will  be 
settled  for  the  upper  companies,  and  there  will  be  no  more 
trouble.     So  I  did  not  initiate  legal  proceedings  in  respect 


172 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


I 


to  those  companies,  deeming  it  better  to  await  the  decision 
of  the  courts,  in  reference  to  the  case  of  the  next  dams 
above  Columbia." 

II. 
"Harrisburo,  December  18th  1867. 

"  Sir  : — Having  been  re-appointed  by  your  Excellency 
to  the  position  of  Commissioner,  under  the  Act  of  March 
30th  1866,  relating  to  the  passage  of  fish  in  the  Susque- 
hanna and  its  tributaries,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the 
following  report : — 

"  The  passage  for  fish  constructed  in  the  Columbia  dam, 
and  described  in  my  last  report,  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe  is  a  success. 

"It  is  notorious  that  shad  have  been  caught  of  the  very 
finest  quality  and  in  respectable  numbers  as  high  above  the 
Columbia  dam  as  Newport,  on  the  Juniata. 

"  The  numbers  actually  taken,  during  the  past  season, 
between  Columbia  and  the  Juniata,  are  variously  estimated 
at  from  ten  to  fifteen  or  eighteen  thousand,  by  men  in  whom 
full  reliance  can  be  placed. 

"  In  my  last  year's  report  to  Grovernor  Curtin,  I  stated 
that  the  various  companies  owning  the  lower  dams  on  the 
Susquehanna  and  its  tributaries  were  duly  notified,  accord- 
ing to  law,  of  what  was  required  of  them,  under  the  act, 
and  that  no  company  had  responded  except  the  Susque- 
hanna Canal  Company,  who  had  complied  with  the  act  to 
my  satisfaction,  by  the  construction  of  the  designated  weir. 

"  I  laid  information,  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  act, 
against  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  who,  at  that 


CULTURE  OP  THE  SHAD.  I73 

time,  owned  the  next  structures  which  barred  the  access 
of  the  shad  to  the  upper  river. 

"This  information  was  duly  reported  to  the  District 
Attorney  of  Dauphin  county,  but  was  not  acted  upon  last 
year,  and  thus  one  season  has  been  lost  in  the  progress  of 
our  *  reconstruction.' 

"  This  year,  however,  true  bills  have  been  found,  both 
against  the  Pennsylvania  llailroad  Company,  the  company 
owning  the  dams  last  year,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Canal 
Company,  the  party  owning  them  at  this  time;  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  question  of  the  consti- 
tutionality of  the  law  will  very  soon  be  settled  in  the 
courts. 

"Should  this  question  ,)e  put  at  rest  so  that  this  cor- 
poration shall  be  compell.J  under  the  law  to  erect  the 
weirs,  I  have  not  any  doubt  but  what  shad  will  make  their 
appearance  once  more  above  Duncan's  Island,  in  the  Sus- 
quehanna ;  and  if  this  first  company  constructs,  the  others 
who  were  duly  notified,  as  stated  in  my  last  year's  report, 
namely,  the  North  and  West  Branch  Canal  Companies  and 
the  Wyoming  Valley  Canal  Company,  must  also  comply  or 
otherwise  stand  a  lawsuit,  which  it  is  not  supposed  that 
they  will  do  with  the  record  against  them. 

"  The  whole  matter  then  depends  upon  the  result  of  this 
suit.  If  the  law  now  in  existence  be  inadequate  to  produce 
the  desired  result,  it  will  be  for  the  legislature  to  consider 
the  matter  further. 

"The  people   on  the   Susquehanna,  between  Columbia 
and  Duncan's  Island,  and  up  the  Juniata,  as  far  as  New- 
16* 


174 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


port,  have  had  a  taste  of  fish ;  and  those  living  above  those 
points  being  informed  that  with  an  expenditure  of  a  few 
thousand  dollars  at  each  dam,  this  delicious  luxury  can  be 
brought  again  to  their  doors,  it  will  not  be  at  all  surprising 
if  they  should  feel  exceedingly  anxious  that  a  law  should 
be  passed  benefitting  them  in  the  same  way. 

"  Large  numbers  of  the  spawned  fry  of  the  shad  have 
been  observed  at  various  points  making  their  way  down 
the  river  during  the  fall,  and  the  bodies  of  the  old  fish — 
those  that  had  fulfilled  their  mission  in  spawning — were 
also  seen  at  various  points,  in  large  numbers,  late  in  the 
season,  floating  down  with  the  current. 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  if  the  catch  in 
the  coming  season  would  double  or  treble  the  number 
taken  during  the  season  last  past,  for  it  is  a  well-known 
instinct  of  this  branch  of  the  finny  tribe  that  they  return 
unerringly  to  the  localities  in  which  they  were  spawned, 
unless  prevented  by  some  insurmountable  obstacle  inter- 
posed during  their  absence. 

"  The  erection  of  fish  dams  (weirs)  in  the  river,  how- 
ever, will  tend  very  materially  to  diminish  this  desirable 
result,  and  public  opinion  in  Dauphin,  Cumberland,  and 
Perry  counties  is  so  strong  against  these  devices,  that  I 
believe  but  a  single  one  was  erected  along  the  borders  of 
those  counties  this  year,  and  that  one  was  promptly  sup- 
pressed by  law. 

*'  Having  heard,  however,  that  some  of  those  nuisances 
were  about  to  be,  or  had  been  erected,  along  the  river 
nearer  to  Columbia,  I  caused  the  citizens  to  be  requested 
to  lodge  information  against  them. 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD.  j^g 

"No  such  information  has  been  lodged,  and  I  have  not 
been  able  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  the  downward 
passage  of  the  spawn  has  been  interrupted  in  the  localities 
spoken  of.  The  main  dams  in  the  river  are  scarcely  a 
greater  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  shad  than  these  fish- 
trap«-they  catch  the  spawn  (fry)  in  their  meshes,  and 
there  the  little  creatures  die  by  the  thousand. 

"  It  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people  to  remedy  this  cryin^^ 
evil.     The  laws  against  the  erection  of  such  structures  are 
8ufficie;itly  stringent  to  put  a  stop  to  them  altogether;  but 
unless  those  interested  will  lodge  information,  the  system 
will  continue,  and  although  the  most  efficient  weirs  (fish- 
ways)  shall  be  made  in  the  large  dams  for  the  passage  of 
fish  up  the  stream,  unless  the  way  for  the  spawn  (fry)  to 
get  down  be  left  open,  no  increase  in  the  catch  from  year 
to  year  can  be  expected. 

"There  i.  „„  state,  county,  or  township  officer  whose 
bnsmess  .t  ,s  specially  to  watch  this  infraction  of  the  law 
and  I  would  suggest  that  it  be  made  the  duty  of  s„u,e' 
such  officl  .n  the  counties  bordering  „po„  the  river  to 
have  an  eye  upon  it-notifying  all  persons  against  puttin. 
up  such  structures,  and  that  if  they  should  still  pe^ist  in 
do,ng  so  they  will  ho  proceeded  against  in  the  n,„st  sum- 
mary  manner. 

"A  little  active  interest  taken  by  the  public  in  this 
-gard  ,s  all  that  is  necessary,  and  it  cannot  be  many  years 
un  ,1  the  shad  shall  be  fully  reinstated  in  the  S..,JJZ: 
and  Its  tributaries  for  hundreds  of  miles." 


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176 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


THE    ALEWIFE. 


This  species  (tyranus),  of  tLe  same  genus  as  the  fine  fish 
just  treated  of,  is  the  gaspereau  of  the  Canadians,  the  ale- 
wife  of  the  New  England  states,  and  the  herring  of  the 
Middle  and  Southern  States.  The  means  to  be  used  for 
its  restoration  to  the  streams  from  which  it  has  been  driven 
are  so  identical  with  those  now  being  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  back  shad  and  salmon,  that  I  have  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  make  more  than  this  brief  allusion 
to  it. 

One  habit  of  this  species,  here  and  further  south,  is 
somewhat  different  from  the  habit  which  prevails  with  it  at 
the  north.  I  allude  to  its  entering  very  small  streams  to 
spawn.  In  the  Delaware  it  does  not  ascend  the  upper 
waters  as  far  as  the  shad,  not  being  abundant  above  the 
terminus  of  the  tide.  The  same  may  be  said  of  it  to  the 
southward.  Here,  as  in  the  Eastern  states,  there  are 
several  runs  differing  in  she,  the  earlier  being  larger  fish. 
South  they  have  been,  and  continue  to  be,  so  abundant 
that  no  thought  of  their  becoming  scarce  has  ever  been 
entertained.  As  an  evidence  of  their  abundance,  I  quote 
as  follows  from  the  "  Amorican  Anglers'  Book  :" — 

"  In  Maryland  and  Virginia  they  have  even  been  used 
as  manure,  as  the  small  species  known  as  'manhaden'  and 
'  mossbunkers'  have  been  farther  north.  In  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  the  custom  of  visiting  the  '  fishing-shores' 
annually  for  a  supply  of  herrings  to  salt  down,  still  exists 
aa  an  '  institution/  and  the  inhabitants  for  many  miles  buck 


CULTURE  OF  THE  SHAD. 


177 


from  the  rivers  that  furnish  these  fish,  come  every  spring 
and  take  away  immense  numbers  of  them. 

"  One  of  the  greatest  hauls  with  a  seine  that  I  ever 
heard  of,  was  made  by  a  fisherman  on  the  Potomac  near 
Dumfries,  Va.  With  one  sweep  of  his  long  net  he  en- 
compassed a  school  which  supplied  all  applicants.  He  sold 
them  as  long  as  they  would  bring  a  price,  and  then,  after 
furnishing  tiiem  to  the  people  of  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood  without  charge,  lifted  his  net  and  allowed  the  remain- 
der of  the  imprisoned  fish  to  escape. 

"  The  herring  will  occasionally  take  a  bait,  and  on  a  sun- 
shiny  day  in  May,  when  the  wind  is  from  the  south,  will 
jump  at  a  piece  of  red  flannel  tied  to  a  hook.  An  old 
Scotch  merchant  of  x\ew  York-a  superannuated  t^out- 
fisher— some  years  back  was  in  the  habit  of  fishing  for 
fchem  with  a  fly,  from  the  decks  of  vessels  in  the  East 
River." 


M 


178 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES. 

General  remarks.  Salmonid^. — The  Brook  Trout. — Instances 
Bf  its  naturalization.  The  Lake  Trout.— Mr.  Robinson's  letter  on 
its  propagation.  The  Schoodic  and  Sebago  ASa/mon.— Extract  con- 
cerning its  habits  and  propagation,  from  Maine  Fish  Commissioners' 
Report.  The  Sea  Trout  of  Canada. — Advantages  of  naturalizing  it. 
The  Grayling.— New  species  found  in  Michigan.  The  White  Fish. 
—Its  excellence,  habits,  and  m<-nner  of  propagating.     77*6  Otsego 

Bass. — Not  a  bass.     The  Smelt. — General  remarks.     Percibje. 

The  Rock  Fish.— The  Crappie.—The  Black  Bass  of  the  Lakes.— Itn 
adaptability  to  naturalization.  The  Black  Bass  of  the  West  ana 
Soiith.— Its  introduction  into  the  Potomac— Mr.  Wright's  score 
of  fish  taken  with  the  rod.- Their  naturalization  in  mill-ponds. 
SihVRiDJE.— Small  Species.— Thair  excellence  as  food.- Manner 
of  cooking  them. — Their  proposed  introduction  into  England. 
Cyprinid^.— General  remarks  on.  Esocid.*:.- Injurious  results 
from  introducing  them. 

I  USE  the  term  naturalization  as  the  most  appropriate  in 
reference  to  fishes  which  are  to  be  introduced  into  a  new 
habitat. 

Not  only  in  France  and  England  is  this  branch  of  fish 
culture  claiming  the  consideration  of  thinking  and  enter- 
prising persons,  but  in  this  country  its  great  advantages 
are  beginning  to  be  appreciated.  Th?  French  govern- 
ment and  people  have  become  aware  of  the  value  which 
lies   in  hitherto  waste  and  uncultivated  waters,  and,  as  I 


vv. 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  179 

hav3  remarked  on  a  preceding  page,  have  made  consider- 
able  progress  in  turning  them  to  profit. 

The  fact  that  certain  fishes  are  not  found  in  certain 
waters  is  no  indication  that  such  waters  are  not  suitable  to 
them.     I  know  of  several  instances  on  fine  brisk  streams 
where  trout  were  unknown  above  high  falls,  until  a  few 
were  passed  over,  and  thus  introduced  above.     Here  they 
are  prolific,  and  grow  as  large  as  their  progenitors  in  the 
waters  below.     Lakelets  and  new  streams  have  also  been 
successfully  stocked  with  these  fish.     I  also  know  of  natural 
and  artificial  ponds,  as  well  as  mill-ponds  and  rivers,  where 
the  two  species  of  black  bass  have  been  introduced,  and 
where  they  have  multiplied  and  grow  to  the  size  they  do  in 
the  waters  they  were  taken  from. 

Waters  have  no  doubt  been  accidentally,  or  it  may  be 
said,  providentially,  stocked  with  percoids,  cyprinoids,  and 
pike,  by  the  ova  of  these  fish  (which  are  surrounded  by  a 
glutinous  substance)  adhering  to  the  legs  of  wading  birds, 
which  have  transported  them  in  their  flight  from  one  river 
or  lake  to  another.     Some  even  suppose  that  the  eggs  of 
fish  have  been  swallowed  by  birds  in  one  stream,  and  pass- 
ing  undigested  through  them,  have  be  .  deposited  in  other 
water.  The  latter  theory  is  scarcely  tenable ;  with  the  ova  of 
trout  or  salmon  either  would  be  impossible.     Referring  to 
the  stocking  and  replenishing  of  certain  waters  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi  Valley  with  percoids,  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  for 
again  quoting  from  the  '<  American  Anglers'  Book  :"— 

"I  have  alluded  en  another  page,  to  the  replenishing 
of  the  lakelets,  found  so  abundantly  scattered  along  the 


180 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


margin  of  the  Mississippi,  through  its  alluvial  bottom  lands, 
by  the  occasional  overflow  of  that  river.  This  phenomenon 
is  strongly  presented  to  the  notice  of  observing  anglers  in 
the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis,  and  one  is  apt  to  wonder 
where  the  great  numbers  and  varieties  of  the  perch  family 
come  from,  to  stock  those  sluggish  waters.  In  thinking 
over  the  matter,  I  have  fallen  back  on  my  favorite  theory, 
the  instinctive  migration  of  surplus  production^  as  appli- 
cable to  fresh-water  fishes,  as  well  as  to  salt  water  or  pela- 
gian genera. 

"  If  the  reader  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  at  a  good 
map,  he  will  see  that  the  states  north  and  west  of  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  are  threaded  for  thou- 
sands of  miles  by  rivers  of  gentle  flow,  and  dotted  with  innu- 
merable lakelets,  which,  to  a  great  extent,  are  the  feeders 
and  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  These  are  the  breeding-places 
of  bass,  crappie,  and  other  percoids ;  most  of  them  spawn 
early  in  the  spring,  soon  after  the  ice  has  left  the  lakelets ; 
and  as  most  fresh-water  species  instinctively  run  down 
stream  after  spawning,  it  is  easily  conjectured  how  large 
schools  of  these  fish  are  hurried  along  by  freshets,  and 
deposited  in  the  ponds  that  are  fed  by  the  overflow  of  the 
great  river. 

"  After  a  rise  in  the  Mississippi,  the  lakes  and  ponds 
that  skirt  its  course,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and 
down  through  the  regions  of  cotton  and  sugar,  are  filled 
with  fish  of  this  family. 

"In  the  ponds  which  have  been  replenished  in  this  way 
In  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis,  their  numbers  decrease 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  181 

very  little  the  first  summer;  the  second  season  they  spawn 
and  breed,  as  in  their  native  waters,  but  if  the  ponds  are 
not  refreshed  by  an  overflow  of  the  river  every  two  or 
three  years,  the  waters  lose  the  chemical  condition  neces- 
sary to  the  reproduction  of  fish,  from  a  continued  infusion 
of  decided  vegetable  matter,  and  the  lakes  become  barren, 
until  another  overflow  of  the  mighty  river  comes  rushing 
through,  clearing  them  of  foul,  and  filling  them  with  fresh 
water;  and  restocking  them  at  the  same  time  with  fish,  and 
most  numerously  with  percoids. 

"Below  its  junction  with  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi  has 
made,  in  the  course  of  time,  many  a  "  cut  off,"  forcing  its 
way  in  times  of  flood,  across  the  neck  of  a  peninsula  or  a 
bend,  in  seeking  a  more  direct  course,  and  leaving  con- 
siderable  bodies  of  water,  of  a  horse-shoe  shape,  as  the  old 
channel  closes.     These  are  fed  by  the  annual  or  occasional 
overflow  of  the  river,  and  their  waters  refreshed  and  re- 
stocked  with  fish,  as  just  described.     Bruin  Lake,  opposite 
Grand  Gulf,  Mississippi,  is  a  water  of  this  kind,  and  is  said 
to  contain  bass  (or  as  they  are  there  .called  trout)  of  im- 
mense  size.     I  have  been  told  by  an  angler,  that  he  has 
taken  there,  in  a  day's  fishing,  thirty  of  these  fish,  whose 
aggregate  length  was  sixty  feet." 

In  naturalization,  care  is  required  that  predatory  fishes 
are  not  introduced  into  waters  with  more  valuable  species; 
black  bass,  for  instance,  should  not  inhabit  waters  where 
the  young  of  salmon  and  shad  are  reared.  We  occasion-  ' 
ally  find  through  the  country,  pig-headed  individuals  who 
have  introduced  pike  into  ponds  which  were  well  stocked 
16 


182 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


with  trout,  because  the  former  were  larger  fish.  The  con- 
sequence of  course  is,  that  the  valuable  and  more  beauti- 
ful trout  are  exterminated  by  these  fresh-water  sharks  in  a 
few  years. 

The  quality  of  the  water  should  also  be  considered,  cold 
or  warm,  clear  or  muddy,  swift  or  sluggish ;  and  such  fish 
introduced  as  are  natural  to  the  stream  or  pond. 

As  it  is  inferred  that  naturalized  fish  will  propagate 
naturally,  it  is  necessa'-y  that  suitable  spawning-beds 
should  be  accessible  to  them  in  their  new  home.  A  cool, 
well-shaded  lakelet,  which  it  is  intended  to  stock  with  trout, 
should  have  spring  brooks  or  rapid  streams  entering ;  these 
should  be  provided  with  an  abundance  of  gravel  in  gentle 
and  shallow  currents.  For  fish  of  the  carp  and  perch 
families,  aquatic  weeds  and  grass  or  brush  should  be  fur- 
nished, on  which  these  fishes  deposit  their  spawn ;  which  is 
agglutinated  together,  and  adhere  to  aquatic  plants  or 
stones  by  means  of  the  viscid  matter  which  surrounds 
the  eggs.  Bundles  of  faggots  tied  irregularly  may  even  be 
placed  in  parts  of  ji  pond  where  they  are  likely  to  spawn 
for  their  accommodation.  The  impregnated  ova  could  be 
collected,  if  desired,  as  it  is  in  China,  and  transported 
adhering  to  the  twigs,  in  water,  or  stripped  off,  if  done 
gently,  and  sent  away  in  small  vessels. 

The  naturalization  of  species  belonging  to  the  perch 
family  is,  or  should  be,  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Western  States.  Many  an  insignificant  stream 
which  now  affords  a  home  only  for  small  worthless  species 
might  be  dammed  and  stocked  with  bass  obtained  from 


N^TURALiaATION  OF  FISHES.  133 

larger  waters.  A  supply  of  fish  food  which  is  now  pre- 
carious  and  only  obtained  by  a  long  trip  to  rivers  and 
lakes,  might  be  thus  made  oertain  and  brought  to  one's 
own  premises  or  immediate  neighborhood. 

Concerning  the  hybridizing  of  fish,  I  would  here  re- 
mark  that  many  erroneous  notions  prevail,  and  some  very 
impracticable  suggestions  have  been  made  by  those  who 
should  know  better,  about  cr&rting   different   genera  or 
species.     When  fish  culture  was  in  its  incipiency,  some  of 
the  learned  men  of  France,  amongst  whom  (if  I  remember 
correctly),  certain  renowned  biologists  were  included,  sug- 
gested   crossing   the   pike  with  the  salmon.     I  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  results  from  experiments  of  this  kind 
which  are  reported  to  have  been  made  at  Huningue,  but  I 
doubt  whether  the  ova  of  one  genus  (to  say  nothing  of  that 
of  a  different  family),  can  be  impregnated  with  the  milt 
of  another.     If  species  of  the  same  genus  were   even 
crossed,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  progeny  would 
not  be  endowed  with  reproductive  powers.     They  would, 
doubtless,  be  mules.     There  is  a  limit  to  the  violation  or 
interference  with  certain  laws  of  nature,  and  hybrids  when 
produced,  are  inferior  animals.     We  see  it  in  the  produce 
of  the  horse  and  ass,  where  the  reproductive  power  is  lost; 
and  in  the   mulatto,  where  the  physical  condition  of  the 
Caucasian  or  the  negro,  in  most  cases,  deteriorates.     Ex- 
periments in  hybridizing,  therefore,  may  develope  certain 
truths  that  might  be  interesting  to  biologists ;  but  that 
new  species  or  mules  of  larger  growth  or  greater  excellence 
can  be  thus  produced,  it  is  unreasonable  to  hope  for. 


T 


■ 


184  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURi;, 

It  is  my  purpose  to  treat  separately,  and  under  its  appro- 
priate head,  of  the  species  of  each  family  which  I  have 
thought  may  be  advantageously  naturalized. 

SALMONID^. 

Having  already  treated  at  length  of  the  cultivation  of  the 
true  salmon  (^S.  salar),  I  will  proceed  with  other  species 
of  the  same  genus. 

The  Brook  Trout  {S.  fontinalts).— This,  as  well  as 
its  nobler  cogener,  has  already  occupied  so  much  space 
that  further  notice  of  it  might  be  deemed  superfluous. 
Still  its  cultivation  is  a  matter  of  so  much  importance  that 
I  shall  ofiFer  some  remarks  on  its  naturalization. 

No  sooner  is  a  line  of  travel  opened  to  within  a  reason- 
able distance  of  any  part  of  the  country  where  trout  are 
abundant,  than  the  backwoodsman,  in  league  with  the  city 
fish  dealer,  commences  a  war  of  extermination.  Urged  on 
by  the  high  price  they  bring  in  market,  all  manner  of 
means,  fair  and  foul,  are  used  to  take  them,  and  they  are 
sent  to  the  cities  in  season  and  out  of  season.  Sometimes 
trout  of  unusual  size  are  oflFered  for  sale  even  in  the  streets 
of  New  York  just  after  they  have  spawned,  and  incon- 
siderate people  buy  them,  wlien  they  are  no  more  to  com- 
pare to  the  same  fish  in  June  than  a  handful  of  dried 
apples  are  to  a  Newton  pippin.  We  also  see  them  gar- 
nished and  displayed  in  the  windows  of  restaurants  in 
October  and  November,  and  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
flavor  of  a  trout  in  good  condition,  eat  them  because  trouti 
are  considered  a  delicacy.     I  forget  how  many  tons  of 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  185 

trout  are  estimated  to  have  been  sent  from  the  Umbagog 
region  to  Boston  last  fall.     Another  cause  for  the  decline 
of  trout  streams  is  the  relentless  manner  in  which  these 
fish  are  pursued  with  hook  and  line.     Fish  of  all  sizes, 
from   the   length  of  one's  finger  upwards,  are  strung  or 
basketed  by  country  bait-fisher  or  city  angler  with  his  flies. 
The  poor  ambition  possessing  each,  that  he  may  boast  of  the 
numbers  of  trout  he  has  exterminated,  without  regard  to 
size;  for  with  such  the  fingerling  counts  one,  as  does  the 
fish  that  runs  one's  line  off  the  reel.     With  this  state  of 
semi-barbarism  existing— and  it  appears  almost  impossible 
to  ameliorate  it— it  is  evident  that  naturalization  and  arti- 
ficial propagation  must  be  resorted  to  in  more  thickly  set- 
tied  parts  of  the   country,  if  we  wish   to  prevent  these 
beautiful  fish  from  becoming  almost  as  rare  in  our  streams 
as  salmon  now  are. 

I  have  alluded  in  the  introduction  to  this  article,  to  the 
stocking  of  the  upper  parts  of  streams  with  this  fish,  and 
could  cite  instances  in  which  they  have  been  quietly  intro- 
duced  into  others,  where,  after  a  few  years,  those  who 
transplanted  them  were  rewarded  with  good  fishing,  until 
the  knowledge  of  such  fact  caused  the  brook  to  be' over- 
fished. 

The  Cuttyhunk  Club,  an  association  of  anglers  who 
have  established  themselves  on  the  island  bearing  that 
name,  are  about  introducing  brook  trout  into  a  fine  fresh 
water  pond  on  their  grounds.  In  a  letter,  bearing  date 
April  25th,  a  member  of  the  club  says :  "  We  have  not  - 
got  along  far  enough  at  Cuttyhunk  to  give  any  decided 
16* 


186 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


result.  We  have  had  21,000  spawn  from  Seth  Green,  of 
which  we  thlak  we  have  hatched  and  have  in  good  lively 
condition  all  except  about  2000.  These  fish  we  have  in 
boxes,  fed  by  a  cool  spring,  and  arranged  under  Gicen's  per- 
sonal inspection,  and  attendee!  by  Capt.  Simons,  an  enthu- 
siastic and  very  careful  person.  We  have  plerty  of  water 
to  kee^i  the.^e  little  fellows  confined  until  this  fall,  when  we 
shall  curn  them  into  a  pond  of  ten  acres  and  about  twenty 
feet  deep,  cool,  fed  by  springs,  No  cutlet  except  what 
leeches  through  the  sand  into  the  sea.  In  very  heavy 
weather  the  sea  sometimes  dashes  a  little  salt  water  into 
this  pond,  which  lias  about  four  feet  above  high  tide,  and 
this  we  thin'c  a  good  feature.  We  have  now  about  300  fish 
of  a  quarter  of  a  pound  each  in  this  pond  with  lots  of  feed." 

Having  occupied  so  umch  space  with  the  cultivation  of 
the  trout.  I  shall  conclude  by  giving  the  following  from  the 
Maine  Fish  Commissioners'  report  ooroerning  its  naturali- 
zation ; — 

"  Mjij.  S  Pill,  of  Phillips,  writes  to  the  Maine  Farmer : 
'■  In  the  fail  of  1850  I  put  into  the  Sandy  river  ponds  ten 
or  twelve  trout ;  for  soveu  or  eight  years  no  indications  of 
them  were  to  be  seen,  notwithstanding  thousands  of  pciople 
orcsKcd  those  ponds  every  year.  Since  1857  it  is  judged 
that  not  less  than  2000  pounds  have  been  taken  out 
annually.  So  fur  as  I  haVc  bean  ablo  to  inform  mys:lf, 
never  a  fish  had  been  seen  in  eith'ir  of  those  ponds  prior 
to  my  colonization.' '' 

The  Lake  Trolt. — Of  these  wo  have  ;uany  speci'/i, 
from  the  gigantic  ^.  Namaycmh  to  the  lesser  trout  of  our 


NATURALIZATION  OF  PISHES.  jgj 

smaller  lakes.     They  are  known  in  Canada  as  "Lunge" 
m  some  of  the  Eas^.ern  States  as  "  Togue,"  the  average 
of  the  species  in  the  smaller  lakes  not  exceeding  three  or 
four  pounds.     Experiments  were  made  last  winter  by  Mr 
Robinson,  of  Meredith,  N.  H.,  in  hatching  the  ova  of  the 
lake  trout  found  in  his  vicinity.     In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Ains- 
worth  he  says :  -In  regard  to  our  lake  trout,  I  am  making 
the  experiment  of  hatching  them,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Commissioners.     I  am  well  satis- 
fied with  the  result  thus  far,  considering  my  want  of  know, 
edge  in  the  business.     I  fMnk  that,  with  a  little  more 
■ight  on  the  subject,  I  can  make  a  perfect  success.     I  lost 
a  great  many  spawn  by  bringing  them  home  in  buckets 
sitting  m  the  bottom  of  a  wagon,  and  others  by  being 
jarr<,d  in  a  boat  beaung  to  windward  in  a  heavy  sea.     All 
I  transported  without  jar  are  hatching  well.     There  is  no 
real  trouble  in  obtaining  the  spawn.     The  fish  come  on  the 
shoals  to  spawn,  and  can  be  taken  in  mesh-nets  without  at 
all  injuring  the  fish.     I  captured  some  250  fish  of  both 
sexes,  and  after  manipulating,  returned  them  to  the  hike 
and  Killed  but  few.     Those  I  took  were  of  the  proportion 
of  five  or  six  n>ales  to  one  female.     The  amount  of  spawn 
I  should  judge  would  be  about  the  same  as  salmon,  say 
about  2000  for  a  two-pound  fish  and  upwards,  to  10,000 
for  u  ten-pounder." 

There  is  bat  little  doubt  that  any  of  the  species  referred  to 
can  be  naturalized  in  lakelets  that  are  suitable  to  the  black 
ba«s  of  the  northern  lakes.  They  do  not  appear  to  be  pro- 
.ific,  as  they  are  not  found  in  great  numbers  in  the  hikea 


188 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


they  now  inhabit;  nor  is  the  flesh  ol  any  of  them  com- 
parable to  that  of  the  true  salmon,  the  land-locked  salmon, 
or  the  brook  trout.  The  last' report  of  the  Maine  Fish 
Commissioners  contains  the  following  remarks  on  their 
habits  : — 

"  Late  in  October  they  resort  to  shoal  water,  and  spawn 
on  rocks  and  ledges.  They  come  suddenly,  finish  the 
operation  in  a  few  nights,  and  immediately  retire  to  deep 
water.  It  has  been  noticed  that  the  females  come  to  the 
spawning-grounds  first.  The  first  night  of  *heir  appearance 
nearly  all  will  be  females,  and  at  the  last  nearly  all  males. 
They  are  accompanied  and  followed  by  a  motley  throng, 
composed  of  nearly  all  kinds  of  fishes  in  the  lake,  eels  and 
hornpouts  predominating.  Probably  few  of  the  eggs 
escape  them." 

The  Sohoodic  Trout,  or  more  properly  salmon  (;S^. 
gloveri),  and  the  Sebago  salmon  (*S^.  Sehago),  I  am  in- 
cliued  to  believe  are  identical.  Both  are  doubtless  land- 
locked salmon,  having  lost  the  instinct  of  migration  to  sea 
many,  many  generations  back.  It  is  likely  that  at  some 
remote  period  natural  obstructions  prevented  their  migra- 
tions to  the  ocean,  and  the  habit  of  reproducing  in  fresh 
waters  without  going  to  sea  to  recuperate  was  forced  upon 
tliem  and  became  an  instinct.  These  modified  salmon 
(if  I  may  so  call  them)  are  now  permanent  in  Sebago  and 
Schoouic  lakes,  although  there  appears  to  be  no  obstruction 
to  the  marine  migrations  of  the  latter.  7hese  fish  could 
probably  bo  naturalized  in  the  smaller  lakes  of  New  Eug- 
laud  and  Now  York.     lo  the  Umbagog  region  they  would, 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  183 

without  doubt,  do  well.  Chautauque  Lake,  near  the  divid- 
ing  line  between  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  could  likely 
be  stocked  with  them;  at  all  events  such  an  enterprise  is 
worth  the  experiment. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  the  Sebago  salmon 
is  taken  from  the  Maine  Fish  Commissioners'  Report:— 

"This  species  was  once  quite  abundant  in  the  waters 
connected  with  Sebago  Lake;   but  torch  and  spear,  and 
exclusion  from  the  spawning-grounds,  have  made  great 
inroads   on    their   numbers.     Probably  not   more   than  a 
thousand  of  them  are  now  taken  annually.     Nathan  Cum- 
mings,  Esq.,  of  Portland,  has  given  us  much  information 
about  these  fish.     He  says  that  when  the  Cumberland  and 
Oxford  Canal  was  building,  during  the  first  winter  the 
workmen  sent  away  fifty  barrels  of  them.     Mr.  Cummings 
used  to  fish  for  them  very  successfully  at  the  outlet  of  Se- 
bago  Lake,  but  for  some  years  he  has  tried  them  there  to 
no  purpose.     They  are  still  brought  in  limited  numbers 
into  Portland  each  spring  and  fall,  mostly  from  the  lower 
part  of  Crooked  and  Songo  rivers. 

"  The  principal  breeding-grounds  of  this  salmon  at  the 
present  time  are  on  Crooked  river,  below  Edes  Falls,  in  the 
town  of  Naples,  and  in  Bear  brook,  at  the  head  of  Long 
Pond,  near  Harrison  village.  They  make  their  first  appear- 
ance  in  the  direction  of  their  spawning-beds  about  the  Lst 
of  September;  in  Crooked  river  a  little  earlier  than  in 
Bear  brook.  In  the  latter  stream  the  males  come  first 
alone,  and  run  bank  and  forth  in  the  mouth  of  the  brook 
until  the  last  of  the  month,  when  they  are  joined  by  a  few 


190 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


females,  but  these  are  still  very  few  until  the  15th  of  Octo- 
ber.    Soon  after  this  date  they  begin  to  ascend  the  rapids 
to  spawn.   It  is  not  often,  however,  that  any  of  them  are  ma- 
ture and  commence  spawning  until  the  20th.     They  come 
then  in  eonsiderable  numbers,  and  soon  finish  spawning. 
Very  few  are  found  in  the  brook  as  late  as  November  14th, 
although  probably  they  sometimes  spawn  later.     Crooked 
river  is  a  larger  stream,  and  they  report  different  habits  in 
some  respects.     The  very  first  that  come  into  the  stream 
are  males,  but  after  that  the  females  seem  to  head  the  ad- 
vance, and  the  males  follow  them ;  taking  the  whole  of 
September,  the  males  are  not  more  numerous  than  the 
other  sex.     In  the  whole  season  there  are  more  males. 
They  sometimes  continue  to  spawn  very  late.     The  state 
of  the  water  has  a  great  influence  on  their  motions  at  this 
time.     A  rise  i    followed  by  a  plentiful  run  of  fish. 

"  Their  beds  are  made  in  the  gravel  where  the  current 
is  rapid,  but  just  on  the  verge  of  a  ripple  in  the  water; 
rarely  seen  on  the  lower  side  of  a  ripple.     They  make 
large  excavations,  the  sand  and  gravel   from  which  are 
carried   out   by  the   current,  and   form   a   mound   below. 
These  excavations  are  sometimes  three  feet  in  diameter 
and  are  made  by  more  than  one  pair.     A  large  number  of 
both  sexes  are  sometimes  seen  together  in  one  hole.     No 
fighting  is  observed  amongst  the  males.     It  is  more  com- 
mon, however,  to  see  a  single  pair  working  together,  lying 
side  by  side  in  the  nest.     They  make  the  excavations  by 
fanning  with  the  tail,  no  digging  with  the  head  being  ob- 
served. On  favorite  grounds  the  nests  encroach  on  each  other 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  ,9, 

on  =11  sides  frequently  Iyi„g  „„^.b„,3 

»est  has  not  been  ascertained.  The  work  of  spawning  is 
c«..ed  „„  at  night,  and  by  day  the  fish  are  rarely  t!  be 
soon  on  the  beds.     Their  ascent  of  the  strcan.  also  occurs 

but  sn^al  males  are  taken  with  their  stomachs  full  of  eggs 
The  adult  males  are  very  different  in  appearance  from  the 
other  sex,  be.ng  much  deeper  and  thinner,  with  larger  and 
-ore  pomted  heads.*    The  lower  jaw  is  furnished  at  the 
spawn,„g  season  with  a  singular  recurved  process,  some, 
tjmes  near  an  inch  in  length,  which  shuts  into  the  roof  of 
the  mouth ;  it  is  conical  in  form,  either  truncated  or  with 
the  ape.  bent  backward.     On  an  adult  male  of  one  pound 
«o,ght  th.sw.s  present,  but  not  so  fully  developed  as  in 
tho  la-Kcr  specimens.     In  younger  individuals  it  was  want- 
■»g.     Both  jaws  in  this  sex  are  so  curved  as  to  prevent  the 
closmg  of  the  mouth.     A  male  of  si.  inches  length  had  a 
forked  tad,  cght  or  nine  black  bars  across  the  side,  twelve 
large  vermilion   spots  „„  the  side.     One  that  measured 
e.ght  and  one-half  inches  in  length,  has  the  same  forked 
ta.l    and  the  bars  on  the  side,  but  they  arc  very  faint 
and  the  vermilion   spots  have  changed  to  maroon;  the 
Hook  on  the  jaw  not  yet  visible. 

"  The  spawning-gvounds  of  this  species  arc  very  limited. 
Th,«e  of  Long  Pond  are  confined  to  Bear  brook.  Those 
of  Sebago  arc  mo.,tly  lin.itcd  to  two  or  three  mile,  of 

•  T^i,  .iiffor„„c„  i„  *,  .,,.„,,  „,.  ,,„  „;;;:;;;;:;;;;;;;;;:—;- 

to  .11  tl,e  .pccc.  of  ,he  geau.  &/.»  „,  „,.  ,p„„„i„^,  ,„.,„„_ 


n 


192 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE, 


Crooked  river.  In  formei*  times  they  ranged  at  the  spawn- 
ing season  the  whole  length  of  Crooked  river,  as  far,  at 
least,  as  North  Waterford,  and  great  numbers  of  them 
were  taken  at  many  points ;  but  they  were  never  known 
to  ascend  the  river  at  any  other  season  than  fall,  farther 
than  the  first  gentle  rapids  near  its  mouth.  This  is  rather 
singular;  for  the  sea  salmon  (/S^.  salar)  ascends  rivers  of 
smaller  size  than  this  in  June,  and  passes  the  summer  in 
them.  The  grand  fishing-place  in  May  was  from  the 
junction  of  Crooked  and  Songo  rivers  several  miles  down. 
The  fish  took  bait  eagerly,  and  were  then  in  superior  con- 
dition. They  left  this  ground  as  early  as  the  last  of  May, 
but  at  the  outlet  they  were  taken  much  later.  In  the  lake 
itself  they  were  only  caught  in  the  track  of  the  rafts  that 
came  down  across  the  lake  into  Presumpscot-  river,  and  the 
arrival  of  the  rafts  at  the  outlet  was  always  the  signal  for 
good  fishing  there.  In  Long  Pond  they  are  never  caught 
— only  when  entering  the  brook,  and  in.  the  spring  only  a 
few  small  ones  are  taken  there. 

"  The  size  attained  by  the  Sebago  salmon  is  very  con- 
siderable. The  average  of  those  taken  in  the  fall  is,  for 
the  males,  5  pounds ;  for  the  females,  a  little  more  than 
3.  A  female  25  inches  long  weighs  5  pounds ;  a  male  of 
the  same  length  weighs  7  pounds.  Of  two  males  29  inches 
long,  one  weighed  9  pounds  14  ounces,  the  other  11  pounds 
4  ounces.  Some  extreme  weights  may  be  given.  One  was 
taken  the  past  season  at  Edes  Falls  that  dressed  14  J  pounds. 
The  largest  on  record  was  caught  by  Mr.  Sawyer,  of  Ray- 
mond.    Its  weight  was  17}  pounds,  and  is  vouched  for  by 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  193 

Franklin  Sawyer,  Esq.,  of  Portland.  These  old  fish  are 
seldom  caught  with  the  hook;  and  of  those  taken  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  when  they  are  in  season,  the  average 
weight  would  be  less  than  indicated  by  the  above. 

"  These  fish  are  said  to  be  about  as  plenty  as  they  were 
ten  years  ago.  But  it  is  strange  that  they  can  maintain 
their  numbers  against  such  persecution  as  follows  them. 
The  spear  is  very  fatal.  In  Bear  brook  nearly  all  the 
breeding  males  are  destroyed  before  the  females  are  ready 
to.  spawn.  In  1858  a  law  was  passed  for  their  protection 
which  would  enable  them  to  recruit  their  numbers  were  it 
enforced. 

''  We  consider  this  variety  worthy  of  being  propagated 
and  disseminated  through  the  state."* 

The  Sea  Trovt  (Salmo  Canadensis  of  Hamilton 
Smith)._From  all  my  researches  the  only  scientific  ac 
count  given  of  this  fish  is  by  the  present  writer  f 
Hamilton  Smith,  though  he  named  it,  scarcely  refers  to 
Its  specific  characteristics.  It  is  decidedly  distinct  from 
*^:!Z!!!!!!!!_l^j^^  and  from 

*  Mr.  Nathan  Cummings,  of  Portland,  Maine,  has  communi- 
cated  to  the  Massachusetts  Fish  Commissioners  the  following  con- 
cernnig  the  agility  of  the  young  of  this  fish  :- 

"  The  young  are  very  agile.     Some  of  them,  bred  artificially  by 
Mr.  Robinson,  at  Meredith,  N.  H.,  were  put,  when  quite  small,  in 
«  tank,  into  which,  from  a  height  of  nine  inches,  fell  a  stream  of 
water  flowing  through  a  one  and  a  half  inch  hole ;  whereupon  the 
.ve  y  parrs  leaped  up  the  stream,  and  into  the  upper  tank,  like 
liarlcqum  going  through  a  clock-face." 
t  Sec  American  Anglers'  Book,  page  238. 
17  N 


II 


194  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

salt  water,  and  which  acquire  a  larger  size  and  darker 
tinted  flesh  by  feeding  upon  Crustacea  found  there.  Nor 
has  it  but  slight  affinity  to  the  sea  trout  {Salmo  trutta) 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

These  fish  come  in  large  schools  into  the  Canadian  and 
New  Brunswick  streams.  On  their  arrival  they  are  beau- 
tifully bright  and  of  surpassingly  delicate  flavor,  but  like 
the  salmon,  which  they  precede  a  month  or  so,  they  lose 
their  brilliancy  and  flesh  up  to  the  time  of  spawning,  which 
is  in  October.  As  far  as  I  have  examined  them  tlieir 
stomachs  are  empty  ifter  entering  fresh  water,  while  an 
occasional  brook  trout  taken  in  the  same  pool  has  a  well- 
filled  paunch.  They  are,  therefore,  purely  anadromous,  and 
like  the  salmon  attain  all  of  their  growth  and  flavor  at  sea. 
On  this  account  they  ore  desirable  subjects  for  naturaliza- 
tion, and  should  be  introduced  with  the  salmon,  and  be 
made  to  participate  in  the  facilities  which  are  now  being 
created  to  enable  them  to  ascend  our  rivers.  Four  pounds 
is  not  an  unusual  size ;  they  are  sometimes  taken  as  high  as 
six  and  seven  pounds. 

In  ^he  summer  of  1865  I  stopped  with  a  friend  at 
Harris's,  on  the  Tabasintac,  an  inconsiderable  stream  half 
way  between  Chatham  and  Bathurst,  New  Brunswick,  to 
enjoy  the  sea-trout  fishing.  My  friend  captured  a  goodly 
number  of  them  under  a  pound  weight,  near  the  house 
after  taking  our  tea.  The  next  morning  we  travelled  seven 
miles  down  the  creek  in  a  large  "  dug-out,"  drawn  by  a 
pair  of  stout  horses,  rumbling  along  over  cobble-stones 
down  to  the  junction  of  the  Escadillach.     Here,  in  less  than 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  195 

four  hours,  at  midday  and  under  a  bright  sun,  we  captured 
four  and  a  half  bushels  of  these  handsome  fish  and  left  off 
from  pure  satiety.     A  hundred  of  these  fish  were  over  two 
pounds  m  weight,  and  many  of  them  four  pounds,  although 
our  attendant  lamented  that  there  were  no  large  ones  in 
the  pool..    In  fishing  with  two  flies  on  ordinary  trout  gut 
the  fish,  having  a  dead  pull  against  each  other,  would 
break  loose.     After  losing  many  flies  in  this  way,  we  each 
fished  with  a  single  salmon  fly,  generally  a  worn-out  one, 
left  from  my  former  summer's  tackle;  and  as  long  as  there 
was  dubbing  or  feather  ^n  the  hook  they  would  seize  it 
treely.     Their  sharp  teeth,  which  are  much  more  formida- 
ble than  those  of  our  brook  trout,  made  a  frequent  renewal 
necessary.     We  would  have  ceased  this  havoc  sooner,  but 
young   Harris,  who   drove   our  aquatic  vehicle,  said  he 
hauled  the  pool  with  a  seine  two  or  three  times  during  the 
summer  for  a  stock  of  trout  to  salt  down;  we  accordingly 
kept  on  until  we  had  taken  the  quantity  above  given,  to  save 
him  the  trouble  of  making  the  pool  a  visit  with  his  seine. 

These  fish  frequent  and  spawn  in  the  Miramichi,  on 
which  river  (I  have  been  informed  by  Rev.  Livingston 
Stone,  of  New  Hampshire),  a  salmon-hatching  establish- 
ment  will  be  started  the  coming  autumn.  Of  course  it  is 
to  be  supposed  chat  those  who  have  charge  of  it,  will  not 
neglect  so  favorable  an  opportunity  of  procuring  the  eg.^s 
of  the  sea  trout  and  giving  them  the  opportunity  of  makinl 
sufiicient  progress  in  incubation  to  insure  their  safe  trans! 
portation  to  the  states. 

At  the  time  of  writing  the  foregoing   chapter  on  the 


196 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


cultivation  of  the  salmon,  I  was  not  aware  that  so  spirited 
and  praiseworthy  an  undertaking  as  the  one  alluded  to  was 
contemplated,  and  gladly  make  this  digression  to  commend 
it.  The  necessity  of  manipulating  salmon  on  the  stream 
and  transporting  the  spawn  immediately  after  impregna- 
tion, when  the  ova  are  so  apt  to  lose  their  vitality  by  being 
agitated,  and  not  allowing  sufficient  time  in  hatching- 
troughs  for  the  early  development  of  the  young  fish  in  the 
eggs,  has  been  almost  the  only  bar  to  the  success  of  those 
who  had  the  task  of  introducing  salmon  into  the  rivers  of 
New  England.  It  is  a  matter  ofigratulation  that  this  diffi- 
culty is  about  to  be  obviated.  Not  having  Mr.  Stone's 
letter  at  hand  at  the  time  of  writing  this,  I  am  unable  to 
say  whether  it  is  an  enterprise  of  his  own,  or  of  the  New 
England  Fish  Commissioners,  but  shall  throw  some  light 
upon  the  question  in  an  appendix. 

Thymallus. — To  this  genus  belongs  the  English  gray- 
ling. Dr.  Richardson,  in  his  "  Fauna  Boreali- Americana," 
gives  an  account  of  two  species.  Another  has  lately  been 
discovered  in  some  of  the  affluents  pf  Green  Bay.  It  is 
described  as  a  fish  of  rare  beauty  and  excellence.  While 
on  a  trout-fishing  excursion  lately  in  the  north-western  part 
of  Pennsylvania,  I  met  with  a  very  intelligent,  though  not 
scientific  person,  who  informed  me  that  he,  last  summer, 
while  exploring  some  timber  lands  on  the  Oconto  and  Au 
Sable  (though  I  can  find  no  such  stream  as  the  latter  on 
the  map),  met  with  a  new  kind  of  trout,  which  he  had 
n(  /er  seen  before.  From  his  description  it  was,  doubtless, 
this  new  species  of  Thymallus.     He  informed  me  that  it 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  197 

took  readily  a  bait  of  the  flesh  of  one  of  its  fellows,  a 
worm  having  been  used  to  capture  the  first  fish,  and  that 
It  was  very  beautiful  and  of  delicious  flavor.  Cannot  some 
of  the  spirited  commissioners  of  fisheries  of  the  New  Eng- 
land States  introduce  this  new  fish  into  their  waters  ? 

WHiT^-FiSH.-Lake  herrings,  Otsego  bass,  and  species 
known  by  other  local  names  are  included  in  the  genus 
Coregonus.     It  is  likely  that  we  have  no  less  than  ten  dis- 
tmcfc  species,  from  the  fat-beladencd  C.  albus  or  sapulissimus 
and  a  quadrilateralis  of  the  Arctic  regions,  to  the  little 
lake  herring  found  in  the  Saranac  lakes.     They  are  all 
peaceable  dwellers  in  the  depths;  approaching  the  shores, 
or  the  rapids  of  some  afiiuent  in  autumn  to  spawn,  at 
which  time  most  of  those  found  in  our  markets  are  taken. 
It  is  said  that  no  food  has  ever  been  detected  in  the 
stomachs   of  these   fish.     In   this  respect-^  they  show  a 
marked  analogy  to  the  shad  and  herring.     It  is  said  of 
them  also,  that  on  rare  occasions  they  have  been  known  to 
take  a  bait  and  even  to  rise  to  a  fly ;  their  food,  though,  is  a 
matter  of  mystery.     They  are  not  predatory,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  mouth  and  jaws.     Although  their  food  may 
consist  of  minute  Crustacea,  they  are,  perhaps,  to  a  certain 
extent,  herbivorous,  as  cyprinoids  are,*  and  may  find  cer- 
tain fresh-water  algao  in  the  deeps  where  they  feed. 

*  Fishes  that  are  considered  purely  pred^t^rTitTtheii^  Mts, 
are,  in  some  degree,  omnivorous.  A  striped  bass  will  take  a  bait 
of  shad  roe;  I  found  once  in  the  throat  of  one,  several  roots  and 
stalks  of  some  succulent  aquatic  grass.  A  trout  or  a  salmon  will 
also  take  a  bait  of  the  roe  of  one  of  its  own  species. 

17* 


II 


198 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


I     \M\\ 


The  Large- White  Fish  (C.  alhus),  is  a  fish  of  rare 
delicacy.  Its  flesh  and  skin  contain  a  large  proportion  of 
gelatine.  In  autumn,  at  spawning  time,  it  is  difficult  to 
broil  it  because  of  the  fat ;  which  dripping  on  the  coals 
ignites  and  frequently  envelopes  gridiron  and  fish  in  a 
blaze.  Its  fatness  even  disfigures  it.  With  head  sunk  in 
its  shoulders,  it  presents  the  appearance  of  the  body  of  a 
shad  with  the  head  of  a  herring.  This,  with  its  congener 
(C.  quadrilateralis),  furnishes  a  large  amount  of  food  to 
the  northern  Indians.  Twenty-five  years  since  a  goodly 
portion  of  the  Chippeways,  who  were  permanently  encamped 
at  Sault  St.  Marie,  subsisted  chiefly  on  them,  taking  them  in 
large  numbers  in  the  rapids  with  dip-nets.  In  the  regions 
around  tht  lakes  of  northern  British  America  and  Hud- 
son's Bay,  it  also  furnishes  a  large  proportion  of  food. 
Its  flesh  cloys  less  than  that  of  any  other  fish,  and  it  can 
be  eaten  for  months  without  getting  tired  of  it. 

The  average  size  of  this  fish  in  the  upper  of  the  large 
lakes  of  the  great  range,  is  somewhat  over  three  pounds; 
they  have  been  taken  in  Lake  Superior  weighing  as  much 
as  ten  and  twelve  pounds.  The  usual  size  of  those  brought 
to  our  city  markets  is  about  two  pounds.  They  should  be 
naturalized  in  every  lake  that  will  aflbrd  them  a  suitable 
habitat. 

The  following  from  the  last  Maine  report  throws  much 
light  on  their  manner  of  propagation  : — 

"  Mr.  Clark  is  engaged  in  the  fishery  in  Detroit  river 
He  estimated  the  total  catch  of  whit.e-fish  in  that  river 
aloue,  this  year,  to  be  half  a  million  or  more  in  number, 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  199 

weighing  a  million  and  a  half  of  pounds,  or  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  tons.     At  the  retail  price  in  Boston  these  would 
be  worth  $250,000.     Mr.  Clark  has  a  pound  with  an  area 
of  an  acre  and  a  half,  six  feet  deep,  made  by  enclosing 
with  stakes  a  portion  of  Detroit  river,  in  which  he  keeps 
white-fish  from   November  until   the  last  of  the  winter 
when  they  are  caught  out  and  marketed.     They  are  first 
taken  with  a  seine  before  they  have  spawned,  and  most  of 
them  spawn  here  in  the  pound.     The  operation  is  in  the 
following  manner:  the  opposite  sexes  approach  each  other 
turning  partially  on  the  side,  and  the  male  appearing  to 
attach  himself  by  his  soft  flexible  mouth  to  the  female  near 
ter  gills;    then   both   fish   dart  oflF    through   the  water 
together,  and  as  they  go  the  female  ejects  the  eggs  and 
the  male  the  milt,  in  such  a  way  that  they  mingle  together 
and  fall  to  the  bottom.     They  move  ten  or  twenty  feet  at 
a  time,  and  each  time  eject  several  hundred  eggs.     Mr 
Clark  placed  sieves  on  the  bottom  at  night,  and  in  the 
morning  found  many  thousand  impregnated  eggs  on  them. 
Mr.  Clark  has  taken  the  pains  to  procure,  pack,  and  send 
to  us  two  separate  lots  of  these  eggs,  to  assist  us  in  ascer. 
taming  the  best  mode  of  packing  and  transportation.     Of 
the  first  lot,  packed  in  cotton  batting,  in  sand  and  in  river 
grass,  a  few  survived  the  journey,  out  of  fifty  thousand; 
but  of  the  other  lot,  packed  in  river  mud  and  partially 
fro^n,  not  o^e^uiW*^         «^P«"«^ent  would,  no 

*  The  only  mode  of  obviating  this  destruction  of  ovaln"^- 
portation,  is  to  have  them  partially  incubated  before  sending  them 
away. 


200 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


doubt,  bring  to  light  a  method  bj  which  they  could  be 
successfully  brought." 

The  Otsego  Bass  {C.  otsegh).—Th.m  fiah  bears  the 
very  inappropriate  name  of  "Bass"  :n  Lal:e  Otsego,  while 
it  does  not  bear  the  most  remote  affinity  to  any  of  the 
numerous  genera  of  bass.  Thus  fer  it  is  unknown  in  any 
other  water  than  that  which  gives  it  its  speciSc  name.  It 
is  said  even  to  surpass  the  larger  white-fish  in  excellence. 
Its  average  size  is  not  much  more  than  hulf  that  of  C.  alhus. 
Ic  could  likely  be  naturalized  in  small  lakes  of  a  more 
southern  latitude  than  the  large  white-fish,  and  is  well 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  those  who  take  an  interest  in 
diflFusiug  the  best  species. 

The  smaller  species  of  this  genus  are  not  unworthy  of 
the  notice  of  those  who  would  like  to  see  a  variety  intro- 
duced in  the  many  lakelets  which  dot  our  Northern  and 
Middle  States.  The  fcra,  of  which  millions  are  hatched 
at  Huningue  and  sent  to  ail  parts  of  France,  are  similar 
to  those  we  call  lake  herrings. 

The  Smelt  (Osmerus). — Of  this  genus  we  have  two 
species.  Those  usually  found  in  our  markets  {0.  viri- 
descens)  are  taken  in  great  numbers  on  tmJ.  rivers  north 
of  Boston,  and  along  the  coa.st  of  the  British  Provinces. 
The  annual  value  of  those  sent  from  Boston  exceeds  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  They  are  retailed  in  our  mar- 
kets at  from  fifteen  to  thirty-three  cents  a  pound,  and  make 
a  most  palatable  dish  for  breakfast  or  supper.  The  roe  is 
particularly  delicate.  They  are  so  abundant  at  the  head 
of  tide,  where  they  come  to  spawn,  on  some  of  the  rivers 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  201 

emptying  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  as  to  be  used  for 
manure ;  a  barrel  of  then?  in  abundant  seasons  selling  for 
sixty  cents.  The  average  length  is  not  over  seven  inches, 
although  they  have  been  taken  as  long  as  twelve  inches. 

Both  here  and  in  England  the  smelt  has  been  naturalized 
ia  fresh-water  ponds  and  lakes;  although  an  interference 
with  their  partially  anadromous  habits,  produces  genera- 
tions of  smaller  and,  perhaps,  less  palatable  fish.  The 
reports^of  the  New  England  Fish  Commissioners  give 
several  instances  of  their  naturalization  in  fresh  waters. 
The  Maine  report  for  1867  has  the  following  :— 

"  Pnelts  are  scattere(f  all  over  the  state.     It  seems  pro- 
bable that  we  have  more  than   one   species.     Whether 
either  of  them   is  identical  with  the  salt-water  smelt  we 
cannot  say,  but  the  resemblance  is  ver,  close.     In  several 
localities  they  attain  a  large  size.     Those  of  Harrison  are 
said  to  exceed  half  a  pound  in  weight,  and  those  of  Bel- 
grade to  measure  fourteen  inches  in  length.     In  spring 
they  approach  the  shores,  and  are  sometimes  thrown  upon 
the  land  by  a  heavy  wind,  and  perish  in  great  numbers,  the 
shores  being  lined  with  the  dead.     About  the  1st  of  May 
they  ascend  the  streams.     In  Monmouth  they  run  into 
some  very  small  rills  that  lead  into  Cochnewagn  Pond,  and 
are  dipped  out  in  considerable  quantit*eB.     In  May  1867, 
after  it  was  supposed  they  were   all  gone,  a  fresh  run 
occurred,  that  yielded  thirty  barrels.     In  quality  the  fresh- 
water  smelts  are  fully  equal  to  those  from  the  tide-waters. 
Those  from  Monmouth  ha^p  been  placed  side  by  side  with 
smelts  from  Damarisootta,  ai>d  received  the  preference." 


202 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


The  smaller  species,  0.  sergeantti,  found  in  the  Passaic 
and  Raritan,  and  discovered  lately  in  the  Schuylkill  and 
tributaries  of  the  Delaware,  is  preferred  by  many,  to  those 
brought  from  the  north.  The  pecuhar  odor  of  a  freshly 
taken  smelt,  resembling  that  of  a  newly  pulled  cucumber, 
is  observed  readily  in  the  more  southern  species,  and  epi- 
cures accord  to  it  a  great  superiority  over  the  northern  fish. 
They  are  found  with  us  only  in  winter  and  early  spring, 
when  they  spawn  and  then  disappear.  They  nevcF  ascend 
above  the  head  of  tide,  neither  do  the  northern  species, 
from  all  I  have  learned  of  them  in  New  Brunswick  and 
Canada.  From  the  success  thaif  has  attended  efforts  to 
introduce  the  northern  species  into  fresh  water,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  these  are  not  without  claims  to  naturalization. 

In  this  notice  of  these  beautiful  and  delicate  little  fish  I 
may  appropriately  allude  to  their  food.  An  examination 
of  their  dentition,  and  I  may  say  of  their  stomachs  also, 
evinces  an  extremely  predatory  nature.  During  the  last 
winter  I  took  from  the  pouch  of  one  of  the  northern  spe- 
cies, three  undigested  shrimp,  two  of  the  small  fry  of  some 
marine  species,  and  a  half  a  dozen  ova,  as  large  as  the  eggs 
of  our  brook  trout.  Some  years  ago  I  made  a  similar 
examination  of  a  number  of  smelt  and  found  that  all  of 
them  had  been  feeding  bountifully  on  shrimp.  I  was  not 
aware  uutil  then  that  these  lively  little  crustaceans  could 
be  found  in  winter.  The  fact  of  their  being  found  along 
our  north-eastern  coast  at  this  season  of  the  year  is  sug- 
gestive of  the  vast  amount  of  marine  food  accessible  to 
pelagian    and    anadromous    fishes    at    all    times.     Small 


!1. 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  203 

Crustacea,  both  in  winter  and  summer,  and  the  larger 
when  they  shed  their  hard  coats,  must  contribute  largely 
to  the  sustenance  of  fishes  that  inhabit  salt  and  brackish 
water. 

PERCID^. 

We  have  many  fishes  included  in  this  family  that  can  be 
readily  naturalized.  They  are  found  both  in  salt  and  fresh 
waters.  Our  fresh  rivers,  lakes,  ponds,  lagoons,  and  bayous 
are  rich  in  genera  and  species.  They  are  all  hardy  fish, 
firm  of  flesh,  and  excellent  eating. 

The  Rock  Fish,  or  Striped  Bass  {Lahrax  lineatus),  is 
"  A  fish  of  wonderful  beauty  and  force, 
That  bites  like  a  steel  trap,  and  pulls  like  a  horse." 

^    Some  ineffectual  attempts  have  been  made  to  naturalize 

it  in  fresh-water  ponds  by  those  who  have  not  taken  into 

consideration  that  it  is  to  a  great  extent  an  anadromin,  and 

that  to  continue  its  generations  in  size  and  perfection,  it 

must  necessarily  make  yearly  migrations  to  salt  water.     I 

have  no  doubt  it  would  deteriorate  in  purely  fresh  water  as 

much  as  the  salmon  or  shad,  if  this  law  of  its  nature  was 

set  aside.      Still  if  it  grew  to  half  its  accustomed  size, 

when   prevented   from  going   down   to  salt  or  brackish 

waters,  it  might  bo  profitably  naturalized  in  fresh  ponds 

and  lakes.     From  all  I  have  learned  of  its  habits,  it  re- 

produces  in  tidal  creeks  and  coves  where  fresh  streams 

enter,  and  not  above  tide,  as  the  salmon.     A  friend,  whose 

statement  I  consider  reliable,  informs  me  that  in  some  of 

the  shallow  waters  along  our  southern  coast,  he  has  dipped 


I 


"% 


204 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


up  a  hand-net  full  of  the  fry.  They  are  seldom  found — 
at  least  not  in  large  numbers — above  the  head  of  tide  until 
they  have  attained  some  size ;  and  their  pushing,  predatory 
instinct  must  induce  them  to  ascend  so  far  only  for  feed. 
This  species-  is  rare  in  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
or  the  rivers  and  bays  connecting  with  it. 

The  White  Perch  {Labrax  palUdus). — This  is  a  beau- 
tiful fish ;  silvery  bright  in  tidal  rivers,  and  on  open  rocky 
or  sandy  bottoms ;  of  greenish  or  golden  hue  where  it  lives 
amongst  grass  and  aquatic  weeds;  and  of  darker  tint 
when  it  inhabits  discolored  waters,  and  muddy  or  peaty 
bottoms.  Southward,  in  tidal  streams,  it  may  be  enume- 
rated with  anadromous  fishes.  In  the  Middle  and  Eastern 
States  it  is  not  unfrequently  found  in  fresh-water  lakelets 
or  ponds  having  no  communication  with  salt  water.  At  the 
south  its  average  size  is  larger  than  at  the  north  ;  and  it  is 
with  surprise  that  we  find  northern  ichthyologists  underrat- 
ing it  in  this  particular,  and  fish  commissioners  alluding  to 
it  as  a  fish  unworthy  of  their  consideration  for  culture. 

A  white  perch  of  twelve  inches  will  weigh  nearly  a 
pound.  I  have  taken  them  of  this  size  in  numbers  in  the 
Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal,  which  in  its  coui*se  occu- 
pies a  considerable  length  of  an  old  mill-pond  and  St. 
George's  creek.  These  fish  breed  here  in  the  coves,  and 
the  canal  no  doubt  receives  fresh  accessions  from  the  Dela- 
ware  through   the    locks*  at   Delaware    City.     South  of 

*  A  singular  fact,  I  am  credibly  informed,  is  noticed  here 
every  spring.     Tho  alcwives,  or  herrings,  as  we  term  them,  collect 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  205 

Philadelphia  as  far  as  Savannah,  white  perch  occupy  an 
important  place  amongst  "  pan  fish."  They  are  hardy  and 
prolific,  and  much  better  eating  than  the  yellow  or  barred 
perch.  If  they  could  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  the 
latter  in  ponds  or  lakes  where  these  now  abound,  it  would 

be  a  great  desideratum. 

a. 

The  Crappie,  so  called  by  the  habitans  of  French 
extraction  in  Missouri,  and  "  Sac  a  lai"  by  the  Creoles  of 
Louisiana,  is  the  Pomoxis  hexacanthus  of  Cuvier.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  percoids  known.  It  is  found  in 
sluggish  waters  from  the  Carolinas  southward  on  the  At- 
lantic, and  in  the  bayous  and  lakelets  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  from  the  Gulf  to  Minnesota.  An  excellent  en- 
graving and  a  full  description  of  it  can  be  found  in  the 
"  American  Anglers'  Book,"  p.  111.  It  exceeds  some- 
what the  white  perch  in  size.  It  bites  freely  at  a  baited 
hook,  is  a  good  pan  fish,  and  well  worthy,  if  only  for  its 
beauty,  of  naturalization  in  the  eastern  states. 

The  Black  Bass  of  the  Lakes  {Grystes  nigricans)  has 
been  naturalized  in  many  of  the  lakelets  of  New  England 
and  New  York,  and  might  be  introduced  in  such  waters 
further  south.     These  fish,  some  years  back,  made  their 


in  largo  numbers,  apparently  with  the  effort  of  passing  through  the 
locks  into  the  canal.  It  is  said  that  a  herring  fishery  might  bo 
established  here  that  would  be  worth  some  thousanda  of  dollars, 
but  for  its  interfering  with  the  passage  of  the  boats.  It  may  be 
that  some  of  them  pass  through  the  locks  and  spawn  in  the  canal, 
and  the  fry  pass  out,  thus  keepiug  up  this  yearly  crowfl  of  appli- 
cants for  admission. 
18 


206 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


way  through  the  Erie  Canal  into  the  Hudson.  They 
appear  to  prefer  the  mouths  of  streams  entering  this  river, 
and  are  but  seldom  found  in  the  tideway.  Professor 
Agnel,  of  West  Point,  about  nine  years  since,  procured  a 
stock  of  them  from  Saratoga  Lake,  and  introduced  them 
into  Wood  Lake,  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water  some  six  miles 
west  of  the  Hudson.  Here  they  thrive  wonderfully,  and 
have  been  taken  four  or  five  pounds  in  weight.  The  Pro- 
fessor, who  pitches  his  tent  every  summer  by  his  pretty 
lake,  uses  the  artificial  fly  and  his  trout-rod  exclusively  in 
taking  them. — May  his  shadow  never  grow  less,  or  the 
bass  refuse  to  rise  to  his  red  hackle  ! 

On  a  preceding  page  I  have  given  an  extract,  which 
shows  the  progress  the  Cuttyhunk  Club*  had  made  towards 


*  The  Cuttyhunk  Club  takes  its  name  from  the  island  where  it  has 
been  established ;  the  most  westerly  of  the  Elizabeth  Islands,  off 
the  coast  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  about  four  or  five  miles  long  and 
half  as  wide.  This  association  was  established  here  in  1864,  its 
originators  being  induced  hither  by  the  fine  striped  bass-fishing  to 
be  found  along  the  shores.  Besides  the  trout  and  the  black  bass 
pond,  the  club  controls  by  lease  of  land  and  otherwise,  the  shoot- 
ing on  the  island  also.  Originally  there  were  twenty-five  members, 
the  number  has  since  been  increased  to  sixty,  and  the  capital  of  the 
club  to  $25,000 ;  each  member  contributing  twenty  dollars  annually. 

The  comhaodious  and  comfortable  hotel  of  the  club,  with  ice  house, 
fine  spring  water,  and  other  accessories,  is  near  the  beach,  and 
opposite  some  of  the  best  stands  for  striped  bass-fishing.  A  tariff 
of  hotel  prices  is  fixed  every  season,  and  each  member  is  allowed 
to  invite  a  friend  who  is  not  a  member,  to  accompany  him  and  par- 
take of  the  sport.     The  club  also,  at  their  meeting  in  the  mouth  of 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  207 

Stocking  their  trout  pond.     The  following  is  from  the  same 
letter : 

'*  Our  baas-pond  of  sixty  acres,  and  twenty  feet  deep  in 
some  places,  adjoins  that  intended  to  be  occupied  by  the 
trout,  and  is  separated  from  it,  by  a  small  embankment 
extending  across  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  which,  in   low 
water,  is  sometimes  dry.     Early  in  the  spring  of  1866,  we 
put  into  it  twenty-nine  large  black  bass,  and  as  many  more 
during  the  summer,  to  make  the  number  exceed  one  hun- 
dred.    We  think  those  we  put  in  early  spawned  the  same 
season,  as  a  numerous  progeny  (about  one  and  a  half  inches 
long)  were  observed  by  the  men  who  had  charge  of  the 
pond.     The  young  bass  are  readily  distinguished  from  the 
perch,  which  had  already  occupied  it.     I  can  not  say  how 
large  the  bass  have  grown  by  this  time.     We  shall  restrict 
the  fishing  to  the  fly.     As  regards  the  perch,  we  have  no 
apprehension  of  the  injury  they  may  do  the  bass,  but  have 
fears  that  those  in  the  smaller  pond  will  be  destructive  to 
the  young  trout.     We  shall  therefore  try  to  seine  out  ^.he 
perch  from  the  latter,  during  the  coming  summer.     As  we 
do  not  contemplate  feeding  the  young  trout  after  we  put 
them   in   the  pond,  we  will  rear  them  in  troughs   until 
autumn,  by  which  time,  we  hope  they  will  be  large  enough 
to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  escape  any  perch  that  may 
be  left  after  dragging  the  pond  with  the  seine." 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing,  to  what  an  extent  the 

May  each  year,  occasionally  extend  special  invitations  to  brethren 
of  the  angle.  Wholesome  regulations  prevail,  and  good  order 
characterizes  the  assemblage  of  the  memlx-rs. 


208 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


artificial  propagation  of  trout,  and  the  naturalizing  of  bass 
may  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  sport  of  the  angler.  In 
a  few  years,  a  pond  of  sixty  acres  will  afford  abundant  bass- 
fishing,  and  one  of  nine  acres  a  fair  amount  of  trout-fish- 
ing. As  the  angling  in  both  will  be  subjected  to  whole- 
some restrictions,  the  ponds  will  not  be  depleted  as  those 
have  been,  which  are  open  to  all  fishers.  The  example  of 
this  club  is  worthy  of  the  imitation  of  other  associations  of 
the  kind. 

These  fish  have  also  been  introduced  into  small  artificial 
ponds  with  much  success.  A  few  days  since  (June  15th, 
1868)  I  visited  a  friend  in  the  neighborhood  of  Newburg, 
N.  Y.,  and  found  his  pond,  about  three-eighths  of  an  acre 
in  extent,  well  stocked  with  bass,  which  were  a  little  over 
a  year  old.  Although  they  did  not  rise  well  to  the  fly  so 
early  in  the  season,  we  caught  enough  for  a  mess,  and 
found  them  in  excellent  condition.  These  fish  had  grown 
to  the  size  of  a  half  pound  in  about  thirteen  months.  The 
margin  of  the  pond  was  dotted  with  numerous  broods  of 
this  spring's  fry. 

The  lake  bass  will  grow  to  the  extreme  size  of  seven  or 
eight  pounds,  though  four  pounds  is  thought  to  be  a  large 
fish ;  one  and  a  half  or  two  pounds  may  be  considered  a 
good  average.  They  rise  at  an  artificial  fly  in  July  and 
August.  They  generally  come  with  a  rush,  and  are  taken 
also  by  trolling  with  a  gang  of  flies  or  with  spinning  spoon. 
Crickets  and  minnows  are  used  in  fishing  at  the  bottom, 
which  is  generally  done  after  the  1st  of  September.  When 
hooked  they  leap  high  from  the  water,  shaking  their  heads 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  209 

to  free  themselves,  and  are  plucky  and  die  hard.     The  last 
Massachusetts  Fish  Commissioners'  Keport  says  :— 

^'  In  1850,  Mr.  Samuel  T.  Tisdale,  of  East  Wareham, 
succeeded,  after  much  care,  in  bringing  twenty-seven  from 
Saratoga  Lake,  alive,  to  his  place,  where  he  put  them  in 
Flax  Pond,  close  to  his  house.     In  1851,  and  again  in 
1852,  others  were  brought,  and  several  of  the  neighbor- 
ing  ponds  were  stocked.     The  matter  was  kept  secret,  and 
a  'jubilee'  of  five  years   given  to  the  fish;  at  the  end  of 
which  time,  they  were  found  to  have  peopled  these  ponds, 
and  to  have  grown  finely.     So  soon  as  this  fact  was  known,' 
all  the  neighborhood  at  once  gave  its  assiduous  attention  to 
poaching,  indignant  that  any  one  should  be  so  aristocratic 
as  to  try  to  furnish  cheap  food  to  the  community.     Their 
efi-orts  were  so  far  successful  as  much  to  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  the  fish. 

"  During  May  they  come  by  pairs,  and  make  a  spawning- 
bed  on  a  sandy  bottom  in  from  four  to  six  feet  of  water. 
This  they  sweep  with  their  tails  after  the  manner  of  trout, 
and  the  male  remains  on  guard  over  the  spawn,  and  drives 
away  the  many  intruders  which  hang  about,  greedy  for 
this  savory  food.     In  June,  the  young— recognisable  by  a 
black  band  across  the  tail— are  first  observed,  and  these, 
by  autumn,  have  grown  to  a  length  of  three  to  four  inches. 
At  one  year  old,  they  weigh  from  }  to  i  pound,  and  in- 
crease  about  i  pound  yearly,  till  they  arrive  at  6  pounds, 
according  to  food  and  water.     They  are  in  prime  condition 
in  August  and  September,  but  in  winter  are  black  and  lean. 
The  objection  in  certain  cases  to  this  species,  is  its  great 
18*  o 


210 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


voraciousness.     It  destroys   almost  everything  before  it, 
except  the  perch,  and  even  kills  out  pickerel  by  devouring 
the  young.     But  in  ponds  already  infested  with  pickerel 
and  abounding  in   'shiners,'  it  may  be  introduced  with 
much   profit,  because   it  replaces  bad  fish   by  good.     It 
should  be  carefully  excluded,  however,  from  all  waters  that 
contain  trout,  white  fish  or  other  valuable  species,  and  from 
ponds  communicating  with  such  waters,  for  it  is  a  most 
restless  and  pushing  robber,  eagerly  searching  and  follow- 
ing the  inlets  and  outlets  of  its  pond.     Of  this  propensity 
the  Brookline  r<?servoir  gives  the  most  curious  instance. 
Nine  black  bass  of  2Ho  3  pounds  were  put  there  in  July 
1862.     Since  then,  in  the  examination  of  the  water-pipes 
leading  from  this  reservoir  to  Long  Pond,,  these  fishes  have 
been  found  in  considerable  numbers  and  of  large  size ;  and, 
moreover,  either  by  their  young  or  their  eggs,  they  have 
penetrated  the  screen  at  the  mouth  of  the  pipe  itself!* 
So  these  black  bass,  apparently  impelled  by  no  other  feel- 
ing than  that  of  restlessness,  performed  an  underground 
journey  of  fifteen  miles,  in  a  brick  aqueduct  whose  greatest 
diameter  was  six  feet  !"f 

How  easy  it  would  be  to  introduce  these  bass  into  ponds 
where  pike  have  exterminated  the  more  valuable  trout,  or 


*  Communication  from  Mr.  John  H.  Thorndike,  President  of  the 
Water  Board. 

t  Arrangements  have  been  made  with  Mr.  Tisdale  to  stock 
several  other  ponds,  and  the  work  is  already  begun .  The  best  time 
to  move  the  live  fish  is  in  the  cool  v/eather  of  late  autumn  or  of 
early  spring. 


NATURALIZATION  OP  PISHES.  £11 

Where  only  yellow  perch,  bull  pouts,  and  worthless  species 
are  found.  The  latter  would  afford  food  for  tlie  new 
comers. 

The  Black  Bass,  of  the  West  and  South  {Grystes  sal 
moides).     There  are  several  varieties  of  this  fish  in  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  states,  from  the  Dismal  Swamp  and 
James  river  to  Cape  Florida.     They  abound  also  in  the 
nvers  and  bayous  communicating  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  and  are  found  in  all  of  the 
waters  of  the  west,  thence  up  to  Minnesota  with  its  nu- 
merous lakes.     In  the  northern  part  of  that  state,  lakes  in 
close  proximity  are  inhabited,  one  it  may  be  with  bass,  and 
the  other  with  white  fish;  the  former  discharging  into  the 
head-waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  latter  into  streams 
flowing  north  towards  Hudson's  Bay.  Occasionally,  though, 
the  white  fish  are  found  on  the  southern  watershed. 

This  species  is  a  more  shapely  fish  than  the  bass  of  our 
northern  lakes,  resembling  it,  however,  in  its  habits  and  its 
game  qualities.  The  first  figure  on  the  engraving  at  the 
.head  of  this  chapter  is  a  correct  picture  of  this  fish.  The 
following  account  of  its  introduction  into  the  Potomac  was 
sent  to  me  by  my  esteemed  friend,  Dr.  Charles  D.  Meigs, 

of  this  city,  two  or  three  years  ago ; 

"  About  thirteen  years  since,  a  son  of  Mr.  Stabler,  at  that 
time  a  conductor  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Kailroad,  hav- 
ing  caught  fifteen  or  twenty  pounds  of  black  bass  in  Wheel- 
ing creek,  secured  them  in  a  bag-net,  and,  putting  them 
into  a  locomotive  tender's  tank,  carried  them  safely  to  Cum- 
berland, and  turned  them  into  the  Potomac,  all  of  whose 


212 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


tributaries,  down  to  the  Great  Falls,  are  now  well  stocked 
with  them.  They  have  multiplied  exceedingly,  and  are 
said  to  grow  to  from  six  to  eight  pounds.  M.  desires  me 
to  tell  you  this.  By  this  act  of  young  Mr.  Stabler,  a  region 
some  180  miles  in  length  has  been  abundantly  stocked  with 
a  large  fish,  good  for  food  and  sport." 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Wight,  of  Baltimore,  who  wrote  me 
about  three  years  ago  in  reference  to  stocking  the  Mono- 
cacy  and  Gunpowder  rivers,  in  Maryland,  with  this  fish, 
gave  me  the  following  score  of  catches  on  the  Potomac  in 
the  summer  of  1865  : — 

2  rods.     8  hours*  fishing,  1251bs.     Largest  fish  4ilbs. 

3  "       9     «  "        3261bs.         '-'        "     61bs.  lOoz. 
I  infer,  from  Mr.  Wight's  letter,  that  they  were  taken 

with  artificial  flies  in  the  neighborhood  of  Williamsport, 
above  Harper's  Ferry.  It  is  said  that  this  fish  does  not  go 
below  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  which  are  about 
twenty-five  miles  above  Washington.  On  the  Gulf  coast 
it  is  sometimes  taken  on  the  same  feeding-grounds  at  the 
mouths  of  rivers,  in  company  with  the  sheep's-head,  at- 
tracted doubtless  by  the  abundant  supply  of  Crustacea 
found  there. 

The  different  levels  made  by  damming  the  Schuylkill 
from  Keading  down  to  Fairmount  could  be  stocked  with 
this  valuable  fish  as  easily,  and  in  the  same  manner,  as  the 
Potomac  was  by  Mr.  Stabler.  The  Schuylkill  is  now  des- 
titute of  any  valuable  species,  except  cat-fish ;  and  our  city 
authorities  could  have  them  transported  from  Pittsburgh 
or  the  Monongahela  to  the  river  bordering  on  Fairmount 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  213 

Park,  in  the  same  way  that  they  were  taken  from  the  Ohio 
to  Cumberland.  A  prohibition  to  catching  them  for  a  few 
years  would  make  them  abundant,  and  afford  angling 
where  there  is  none  at  present. 

The  southern  habitat  of  this  bass  makes  it  more  sus- 
ceptible of  naturalization  in  this  and  states  south  of  us, 
than  the  northern  species  would  likely  prove.  They  have 
been  taken  from  the  James  river  and  naturalized  in  mill- 
ponds  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fredericksburg  and  Warren- « 
ton,  Va.  In  open,  unshaded  mill-ponds,  they  assume  a 
brighter  vesture  than  their  ancestors  had  at  the  time  of 
transplanting  them.  I  have  seen  fish  of  four  pounds 
taken  that  were  quite  silvery  on  their  sides. 

The  small  yellow-bellied  bass,  and  the  sun-fish  {Pomotis 
vulgaris),  should  be  introduced  into  ponds  inhabited  by  the 
larger  fresh-water  bass,  as  they  furnish  an  infinite  source 
of  amusement  to  juvenile  anglers,  and  are  well  worthy  of 
the  frying-pan   after  the   month   of  June.     No  species 
of  bass,  or  of  the  perch  family,  however,  should  be  put 
into  waters   where  the   more  valuable  species,  as  trout, 
white-fish,  and  salmon,  are  intended  to  be  cultivated.     The 
smaller  perches  are  as  destructive  of  the  ova  and  fry  of 
trout  as  the  larger  bass  would  doubtless  prove  to  the  young 
of  white-fish  and  salmon. 


I 


w  ;'i 


SILURIDiE. 

This  family  includes  the  different  catfishes,  or  bullpouts, 
as  they  are  termed  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  larger 
species  found  in  the  western  rivers  grow  to  the  size  of  a 


214  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  I  have  seen  them  cut  trans- 
versely into  steaks  and  I  have  heard  the  music  of  the  fry- 
ing-pan, and  have  smelt  them  as  they  were  fried,  but  never 
had  the  curiosity  to  taste  of  them ;  they  are  coarse  grained 
and,  it  is  said,  are  not  palatable. 

There  is  a  species,  the  yellow  catfish,  found  in  ponds  and 
streams  not  communicating  with  tidal  waters,  as  well  as  the 
ditches  and  creeks  which  do.  These  are  inferior  to  the 
white  or  blue  forked-tail  catfish,  whose  more  natural 
habitat  is  tide  and  brackish  water.  The  latter,  however, 
if  prevented  from  their  run  to  tidal  rivers,  become  perma- 
nent above  them,  as  they  have  in  the  Schuylkill  above  the 
Fairmount  dam.  If  these  smaller  species  were  not  so  com- 
mon they  would  be  more  generally  esteemed.  These  are 
far  better  fish  for  the  pan ;  their  flesh  is  firm  and  sweet, 
and  resembles  that  of  the  trout  or  the  breast  of  a  young 
chicken,  more  than  the  flesh  of  any  other  fish.  ''  Catfish 
and  coff'ee/'  at  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill,  was  formerly,  and, 
to  some  extent,  is  still  an  "institution;"  and  a  catfish 
supper  with  et  ceteras  there,  was  a  thing  "not  to  be 
sneezed  at." 

In  Philadelphia  they  are  a  favorite  dish.  The  shrill  cry 
of  "  buy  any  catfish,"  sometimes  awakens  the  slumberer  at 
early  morn  -,  or  the  wife,  or  man  of  the  house,  or  servant 
returns  from  market  with  bunches  of  catfish,  denuded  and 
beheaded.  The  "  catties"  arc  dipped  in  raw  egg,  rolled  in 
corn-meal  or  grated  cracker,  a  few  turns  are  given  in  the 
fizzing,  spitting  lard  of  the  well-heated  frying-pan,  and  in  a 


NATURALIZATION  OP  FISHES.  215 

trice  they  are  served  on  hot  plates  with  the  accompaniment 
of  coffee,  and  one's  breakfast  is  complete. 

Much  of  the  gluten  and  fat  which  makes  fish  palatable, 
is  between  the  skin  and  the  flesh,  and  in  the  skin  itself- 
thus  any  fish  suffers  in  edibility  by  stripping  it.  There  is  a 
way  of  cooking  catfish,  which  I  think  had  its  origin  with 
the  negroes  in  lower  Virginia  and  Maryland;  it  is  vastly 
superior  to  a  chowder  or  a  "cubrion."  The  fish  are 
merely  scraped  as  one  would  a  trout,  and  not  divested  of 
heads  or  skins,  and  are  stewed  (not  too  much)  with  just 
enough  water  to  cover  them.  Flitch  of  bacon  with  onions 
or  pot-herbs  are  put  in  for  seasoning,  and  unskimmed  milk  or 
cream  is  added  when  the  dish  is  half  cooked.  Large  white 
catfish,  which  sometimes  grow  to  the  size  of  two  or  three 
pounds,  thus  treated,  are  very  fine. 

Persons  who  have  small  ponds,  or  large  either,  if  the 
water  is  too  warm  for  trout,  should  by  all  means  cultivate 
catfish.  A  pond  of  half  an  acre,  or  even  of  less  size,  if  well 
stocked,  will  supply  two  or  three  messes  a  week  for  a  good- 
sized  family.  These  fish,  though  mostly  herbivorous,  will 
eat  almost  anything.  A  muddy  or  grassy  pond  is  particu- 
larly adapted  to  them.  Although  they  will  take  a  small 
fish  if  presented  as  a  bait,  they  are  harmless  to  other  spe- 
cies,  and  without  detriment  to  either,  can  be  put  into  ponds 
with  bass. 

lu  transporting  catfish  they  should  not  be  crowded,  aa 
they  are  apt  to  injure  each  other  with  their  sharp  spines. 
A  better  way,  if  the  distance  is  not  over  a  day's  travel,  is 
to  saturate  an  old  carpet,  and  lay  it  in  the  bottom  of  ^ 


216 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


spring- wagon,  then  place  on  the  carpet  aa  many  fish  as  it 
will  accommodate  without  finning  each  other.  They  should 
then  be  covered  with  another  carpet  or  blankets  dripping 
wet,  on  which  is  placed  another  layer  of  fish,  and  so  on 
until  five  hundred  or  even  a  thousand  are  so  packed.  For 
the  information  of  those  who  live  near  Philadelphia,  I 
would  say,  that  an  old  man  known  as  "  Toney,"  and  his 
partner,  young  Krumbar,  who  live  in  the  small  street 
nearest  the  Schuylkill  between  Race  and  Vine,  and  at  the 
corner  of  a  court  running  towards  the  river,  will  supply 
live  catfish  to  those  who  want  them.  These  men  keep 
them  in  live  boxes  and  supply  them  at  the  moderate  price 
of  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  hundred. 

The  Acclimatization  Society  of  England  have  gone  to  a 
large  expenditure  of  time,  labor,  and  money  to  introduce 
into  their  waters  a  large  species  (I  believe  the  orly  one  of 
this  family  in  Europe),  silurus  giants,  or  Sheat  fish,  bring- 
ing it  over  land  from  the  Argisch,  a  tributary  of  the 
Danube,  the  distance  of  eighteen  hundred  miles.  It  is 
said  that  this  fish  has  attained  the  size  of  fifty-four  pounds 
in  four  years,  and  in  extreme  cases  has  weighed  as  much  as 
two  hundred  pounds.  A  drawing  of  this  fish  shows  a  wide 
dissimilarity  to  our  Siluroids;  its  fins  having  no  sharp  spines, 
the  dorsal,  anal,  and  caudal  being  continuous  and  joining, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  eel.  Mr.  Francis  Francis,  the 
piscicultural  director  of  the  English  Acclimatization  So- 
ciety, says  :  "  One  of  the  greatest  wants  felt  in  this  coun- 
try (England)  has  been  a  good  pond  or  lake  fish  that 
might  be  turned  to  actual  account,  in  order  that  the  huge 


NATURALIZATION  OF  FISHES.  217 

wastes  of  water  with  which  cur  islands  abound  might  be 
turned  to  actual  account.  This  want  the  silurus  seems 
likely  to  meet."  The  fish  in  question  is  described  as 
savagely  predatory;  in  view  of  which  fact,  and  considering 
our  smaller  species  of  catfish  the  opposite,  as  well  as  excel- 
lent eating,  and  easily  naturalized,  I  have  suggested  to 
Mr.  Francis  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  its  acclimation 
in  such  waters  as  the  society  he  represents  wishes  to  bring 
into  use. 

Mr.  Francis  was  so  taken  with  the  idea  that  he  commu- 
nicated  it  to  the  -  Field,"  which  published  the  letter  sug- 
gesting the  introduction  of  the  catfish.  The  matter  has 
created  some  interest  with  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
acclimatization  of  new  species,  and  may  lead  to  favorable 
results. 


CYPRINID^. 
Of  this  family  we  have  many  native  species,  from  the 
bulky  Buffalo  fish  to  the  little  roach  and  redfin  of  our 
small  brooks  j  all  of  them  are  coarse  or  insipid,  and  in  this 
country  are   eaten   only  when  other  fish   cannot  be  had. 
In  China,  however,  they  are  cultivated  as  they  are  in  Ger- 
many.    The  English  Carp,  it  is  said,  unless  taken  from 
lively  rivers  is  not  a  good  fish.     What  the  carp  of  the 
Romans  (who  grew  them  to  a  prodigious  size),  was  as  to 
edibility,  it  is  hard  to  infer.     They  doubtless  considered 
them  a  luxury.     After  a  long  abstinence  from  piscine  food, 
I  have  on  some  occasions  partaken  of  broiled  suckers  with 
some  relish  when  taken  from  cold  streams. 
19 


218 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


ESOCID^. 

The  various  species  of  the  pike  family  are  not  herbivo- 
rous, insectivorous,  or  omnivorous,  but  simply  piscivorous, 
subsisting  entirely  on  fish  with,  perhaps,  the  excep^'^n  of 
an  occasional  frog.  If  one  wishes  to  exterminate  the  trout 
of  some  pretty  mountain  lake  or  a  pond  let  him  introduce 
any  kind  of  pike.     "  Verbum  sat," 


CULTURE  OF  EELS. 


219 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CULTURE    OF    EELS, 

Probability  of  eels  being  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  culti- 
vated.—General  remarks  on  eels.— Eel  culture  at  Comacchio.       • 

Owing  to  the  rapid  diminution  and  enhanced  price  of 
the  better  kinds  of  fish,  it  is  not  improbable  that  eels  may 
at  some  future  day  be  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  culti- 
vated. At  present  the  prejudice  existing  against  them  on 
account  of  their  serpent-like  form,  and  the,  as  yet,  fair 
supply  of  scale-fish  in  our  markets,  cause  them  to  be  under- 
rated. In  Europe  they  are  thought  worthy  of  cultivation, 
as  is  attested  by  the  extensive  eel  fisheries  at  Comacchio, 
in  Italy.  In  most  Roman  Catholic  countries  they  form  a 
large  portion  of  fish-food,  which  is  necessarily  consumed 
on  account  of  the  many  fast  days.  To  those  who  can  di- 
vest themselves  of  prejudice,  there  are  few  more  palatable 
or  more  nutritious  fishes  than  the  eel. 

As  we  have  no  occasion  to  refer  to  the  family  of  lam- 
preys (Petromyzontidse),  or  the  electric  eels  {Gymnotidse), 
we  will  take  a  cursory  view  of  those  which  are  generally 
eaten  (Mursemdse).  These  are  so  abundant  in  autumn,  when 
they  are  taken  in  all  of  our  streams  as  they  return  to  hy- 
bernate  in  salt  water,  as  not  to  be  appreciated. 

The  eel  at  one  time  was  considered  hermaphrodite,  be- 
cause it  is  never  found  with  spawn.     After  the  fact  was 


i 


i 


220 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


established  in  natural  history  that  no  vertebrate  animal 
could  be  hermaphrodite,  it  was  thought,  from  the  absence 
of  spawn,  to  be  viviparous ;  and  a  doubt  still  exists  whether 
it  is,  or  oviparous,  as  most  fishes  are.  As  it  reproduces 
after  its  autumnal  descent  to  salt  water,  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  question  will  soon  be  decided.  The  ova,  if  it 
exists  during  its  stay  in  frei  ■:  ■  :^'',  is  so  small  that  it  has 
never  been  observed.  Thero  ^  be  species  of  Anguilla 
inhabiting  salt  water  exclusively,  and  others  ascending 
fresh  rivers  in  spring  and  returning  in  autumn.  Or  a  large 
portion  of  one  species  may  be  migratory,  and  another  por- 
tion live  entirely  in  salt  water. 

The  eel  fry  ascend  the  rivers  of  this  latitude  in  April 
and  May,  and  by  fall  have  acquired  a  weight  varying  from 
a  quarter  to  a  half  pound.  Some  remain  permanently  in 
fresh  water,  growing  to  a  very  large  size,  weighing  even  as 
much  as  ten  pounds,  and  in  some  cases  beyond  that  weight. 
These,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  do  not  reproduce. 

The  following  account  of  the  eel  fisheries  at  Comacchio, 
taken  from  the  "  Harvest  of  the  Sea,"  is  given  for  the 
novelty  that  such  an  enterprise  would  be  in  this  country. 
It  is  suggestive  of  what  might  be  done  on  suitable  parts 
of  our  coast  at  some  future  day : — 

"  Long  before  the  organization  of  the  Dutch  fisheries 
there  existed  a  quaint  colony  of  Italian  fisher  people  on  the 
borders  of  a  more  poetic  water  than  the  Zuyder  Zee.  I 
allude  to  the  eel-breeders  of  Comacchio,  on  the  Adriatic. 
This  particular  fiishing  industry  is  of  very  considerable 
antiquity,  as  we  have  well-authenticated    statistics  of  its 


\ 


CULTURE  OF  EELS. 


221 


produce,  extending  back  over  three  centuries.    The  lagoons 
of  Comacchio   afford  a  curious   example  of  what  may  be 
done  by  design  and  labor.     This  place  was  at  one  time  a 
great  unproductive  swamp,  about  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  in  circumference,  accessible  to  the  waves  of  the  sea, 
where  eels,  leeches,  and  the  other  inhabitants  of  such 
watery  regions,  sported  about  unmolested  by  the  hand  of 
man ;  and  its  inhabitants— the  descendants  of  those  who 
first  populated  its  various  islands— isolated  from  the  sur- 
rounding civilization,  and  devoid  of  ambition,  have  long 
been  contented  with  their  obscure  lot,  and  have  even  re- 
mained to  this  day  without  establishing  any  direct  commu- 
nication  with  surrounding  countries. 

''The  precise  date  at  which  the  great  lagoon  of  Comac- 
chio was  formed  into  a  fish-pond  is  not  known,  but  so  early 
as  the  year  1229,  the  inhabitants  of  the  place— a  commu- 
nity of  fishers  as  quaint,  superstitious,  and  peculiar  as  those 
of  IJuckie,  on  the  Moray  Firth,  or  any  other  ancient  Scoi- 
tish  fishing  port— proclaimed  Prince  Azzo  d'Este  Lord  of 
Comacchio;   and  from  the  time  of  this   appointment  the 
place  grew  in  prosperity,  and  the  fisheries  from  that  date 
began  to  assume  an  organization  and  design  which  had  not 
before  that  time  been  their  characteristic.     The  waters  of 
the  lagoon  were  dyked  out  from  those  of  the  Adriatic,  and 
a  series  of  canals  and  pools  were  formed  suitable  for  the 
requirements  of  the  peculiar  fishery  carried  on  at  the  place, 
all  of  which  operations  were  greatly  facilitated  by  the  Reno 
and  Volano  mouths  of  the  Po,  forming  the  side  boundaries 
of  the  great  swamp;  and,  as  a  chief  feature  of  the  place, 


I 


222 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


the  marvellotts  fish  labyrinth  celebrated  by  Tasso  still 
exists.  Without  being  technical,  we  may  state  that  the 
principal  entrances  to  the  various  divisions  of  the  great 
pond — and  it  is  divided  into  a  great  many  stations — are 
from  the  two  rivers.  A  number  of  these  entrances  have 
been  constructed  in  the  natural  embankments  which  dyke 
out  the  waters  of  the  lagoon.  Bridges  have  also  been 
built  over  all  these  trenches  by  the  munificence  of 
various  popes,  and  very  strong  flood-gates,  worked  by  a 
crank  and  screw,  are  attached  to  each,  so  as  to  regulate 
the  migration  of  the  fish  and  the  entrance  and  exit  of  the 
waters.  A  very  minute  account  of  all  the  varied  hydraulic 
apparatus  of  Comacchio  would  only  weary  the  reader  j  but 
I  may  state  generally,  and  I  speak  on  the  authority  of  M. 
Costo,  that  these  flood-gates  place  at  the  service  of  the  fish- 
cultivators  about  twenty  currents,  which  allow  the  salt 
waters  of  the  lagoon  to  mingle  with  the  fresh  waters  of  the 
river.  Then,  again,  the  w-aters  of  the  Adriatic  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  lagoon  by  means  of  the  Grand  Palotta  Canal, 
which  extends  from  the  port  of  Magnavacca  right  through 
the  great  body  of  the  watei's,  with  branches  stretching  to 
the  chief  fishing-stations  which  dot  the  surface  of  this 
inland  sea,  so  that  there  are  about  a  hundred  mouths 
always  ready  to  vomit  into  the  lagoon  the  salt  water  of 
the  Adriatic. 

"  The  entire  industry  of  this  unique  place  is  founded  on 
a  knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  the  particular  fish 
which  is  so  largely  cultivated  there — viz.,  the  eel.  Being 
a  migratory  fish,  the  eel  is  admirably  adapted  for  cultiva- 


CULTURE  OP  EELS.  £23 

tion,  and  being  also  very  prolific  and  of  tolerably  rapid 
growth,  it  can  be  speedily  turned  into  a  source  of  great 
profit.  About  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  we  know 
that  the  annual  income  derived  from  eel-breeding  in  the 
lagoons  was  close  upon  ^12,000-a  very  large  sum  of 
money  at  that  period.  No  recent  statistics  have  been 
made  public  as  to  the  money  derived  from  the  eels  of  Co- 
macchio,  but  I  have  reason  to  know  that  the  sum  has  not 
in  any  sense  diminished  during  late  years. 

"The  inhabitants  of  Comacchio  seem  to  have  a  very 
correct  idea  of  the  natural  history  of  this  rather  mysterious 
fish.     They  know  exactly  the  time  when  the  animal  breeds, 
which,  as  well  as  the  question  how  it  breeds,  has  in  Britain 
been  long  a  source  of  controversy,  as  I  have  already  shown ; 
and  these  shrewd  people  know  very  well  when  the  fry  may 
be  expected  to  leave  the  sea  and  perform  their  montee. 
They  can  measure  the  numbers,   or  rather  estimate  the 
quantity,  of  young  fish  as  they  ascend  into  the  lagoon,  and 
consequently  are  in  a  position  to  know  what  the  produce 
will  eventually  be,  as  also  the  amount  of  food  necessary  to 
be  provided,  for  the  fish-farmers  of  Comacchio  do  not  ex- 
I»ect  to  fatten  their  animals  out  of  nothing.     Plowever,  they 
go  about  this  in  a  very  economic  way,  for  the  same  water 
that  grows  the  fish  also  grows  the  food  on  which  they  are 
fed.     This  is  chiefly  the  aquadelle,  a  tiny  little  fish  which 
is  contained  in  the  lakes  in  great  numbers,  and  which,  in 
its  turn,  finds  food  in  the  insect  and  vegetable  world  of 
the  lagoons.     Other  fish  arc  bred  as  well  as  the  eel— viz., 
mullet,  plaice,  &c.     On  the  2d  day  of  February  the  year 


224  AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 

oi  Comacchio  may  be  said  to  begin,  for  at  that  time  the 
montee  commences,  when  may  be  seen  ascending  up  the 
Reno  and  Volano  mouths  of  the  Po  from  the  Adriatic  a 
gre&j  series  of  wisps,  apparently  composed  of  threads,  but 
in  rfeality  young  eels;  and  as  soon  as  one  lot  enters,  the  rest, 
with  a  sheeplike  instinct,  follow  their  leader,  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  pass  annually  from  the  sea  to  the  waters  of  the 
lagoon,  which  can  be  so  jegulated  as  in  places  to  be  either 
salt  or  fresh,  a^  required.  Various  operations  connected 
with  the  working  of  the  fisheries  keep  the  people  in  em- 
ployment from  the  time  the  entrance-sluices  are  closed,  at 
the  end  of  April,  till  the  commencement  of  the  great  har- 
vest  of  eel-culture,  which  lasts  from  the  beginning  of 
August  till  Pecember." 


CULTURE  OP  OYSTERS. 


225 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CULTURE  OP  OYSTERS. 

The  Oyster.—An  hermaphrodite.— Its  fecundity.— As  spawn  or 
•'  spat,"  and  its  manner  of  incubation.— Emission  of  the  spat,  and 
its  destruction  by  marine  animals— Importance  of  its  finding  some- 
thing to  fasten  lo.— Places  favoj  able  to  its  growth— Transportation 
of  seed  oysters  to  the  north.— Growth  of  the  young  oyster.— Chief 
object  in  the  culture  of  oysters.  Oyster  Cilture  at  Fusaro— Its 
antiquity.— Its  progress  in  France  at  the  Bay  of  St.  Brieuc  aud  the  * 

Island  of  Rec— English  and  French  oystars Decrease  of  oysters 

in  Eastern  States.— Governor  Wise's   estimate  of  tho  area  and 
value  of  oyster-beds  in  ■Vii2;inia. 

The  oyster  being  hermaphrodite,  reproduces  of  itself. 
There  are  different  opinions  concerning  its  fecundity. 
Some  writers  state  the  number  of  young  produced  by  a 
single  oyster  at  half  a  million,  others  at  three  millions.  As 
the  produce  of  a  large  oyster  is  more  numerous  than  a 
small  one,  either  may  approximate  the  truth. 

On  the  coast  of  England  the  embryonic  oysters,  in  mass, 
are  termed  "spat."  The  formation  commences  in  the 
spring  and  Ihrough  all  "the  months  without  an  R,"  the 
spat  is  maturing  or  being  ejected.  This,  like  other  bivalves, 
incubates  its  ova  or  seed  within  the  folds  of  its  mantle  and 
leaflets  of  its  lungs.  The  seed  are  contained  in  the  mu- 
cous substance  which  wo  observe  when  they  are  in  what  is 
called  the  "milky  state."     This  mass  of  spawn  loses  its 


226 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


fluidity  to  a  great  extent  as  the  time  of  its  emission 
approaches,  and  is  ejected  for  a  considerable  time  during 
the  summer.  The  spat  comes  forth  like  mist,  and  is  dis- 
sipated  at  once ;  each  little  oyster,  although  a  microscopic 
mite,  perfect  in  itself  It  rises  to  the  surface  at  first,  the 
same  apparatus  by  which  it  attaches  itself  to  anything  at  a 
later  p(  .d  now  acting  as  a  little  float.  After  some  hours, 
its  specific  gravity  increasing,  it  gradually  sinks,  being  car- 
ried ,in  the  mean  time  by  wind  and  tide  until  an  opportu- 
nity is  afforded  for  attaching  itself  to  something.  In  this 
interim  it  is  devoured  by  fish  and  Crustacea,  and  as  it  set- 
tles to  the  bottom  by  its  own  species  and  other  molluscs. 

Quiet  creeks  and  bays,  therefore,  without  strong  tides, 
and  protected  from  high  winds  by  highlands  or  forests,  are 
favorable  to  the  preservation  and  permanent  location  of 
young  oysters.  To  such  places  in  the  Chesapeake  and 
other  southern  bays  our  northern  oyster-groweis  resort  for 
seed  oysters,  which  they  plant  in  favorable  locations  con- 
venient to  large  cities  where  they  are  sold.  I  have  seen  a 
good-sized  sloop  or  schooner,  which  had  anchored  at  high 
tide  on  a  bank  of  seed  oysters  in  the  Curratoma  creek,  on 
the  Chesapeake,  loaded  in  a  day  or  two  when  she  was  left 
high  and  dry,  by  shovelling  them  in. 

European  writers  say  that  the  oyster  commences  to 
reproduce  when  it  is  three  years  old,  it  may  earlier  in  our 
waters.  The  young  on  the  coast  of  England  when  two 
weeks  old  are  about  the  size  of  mustard  seed ;  at  three 
months  old  as  large  as  peas;  at  five  months  the  size  of  one's 
little  finger  nail ;  at  eight  months  rather  larger  than  the 


CULTURE  OF  OYSTERS.  227 

thumb  nail;  and  at  twelve  months  old  the  size  of  a  silver 
half  dollar. 

In  oyster  culture,  to  arrest  the  drifting  spat  is  the  chief 
object;  therefore,  walls  of  stone  or  turf,  hurdles  of  brush, 
faggots,  and  lines  or  enclosures  of  posts,  are  used  for  the 
purpose.  When  the  natural  drift  does  not  bring  the  young 
oysters  in  contact  with  such  appliances,  mature  oysters 
are  laid  so  that  their  spat  may  lodge  against  or  on  them. 

Fifteen  years  ago  there  was  scarcely  an  oyster-bed  of 
native  growth  in  France,  all  having  been  so  over-dredged 
as  to  exhaust  them,  when  M.  Coste,  by  direction  of  the 
government,  set  about  restoring  them  and  promoting  their 
culture.     In  his  investigations  he  visited   Lake  Fusaro. 
The  oyster-beds  here  are  of  ancient  celebrity.     In  past 
centuries  the  luxurious  Italians  built  their  villas  by  this 
lake  to  enjoy  the  salt-water  bathing  and   partake  of  its 
bivalves.     The   Lucrine   Lake,  in  its  vicinity,  is  where 
Sergius  Grata  inaugurated  oyster  culture.     At  Fusaro  the 
same  mode  of  culture  has  prevailed  since  the  time  of  that 
princely  oysterman.     The  oysters  are  laid  down  on  mounds 
of  stone  and  the  surrounding  enclosures  of  posts  arrest  the 
spat.     Faggots  also  are  suspended  for  the  same  purpose 
from  chains  or  strong  ropes,  which  stretch  from  post  to  post 
in  the  lake. 

Following  this  mode  in  France,  the  old  oyster-beds  in 
the  Bay  of  St.  Brieuc  were  renewed  by  laying  down  about 
three  millions  of  mature  oysters,  and  sinking  faggots  and 
constructing  parallel  banks.     In  less  than  six  months  the 


I  i 


228 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


old  shells  on  the  beds  and  the  faggots  and  banks  were 
covered  with  minute  oysters. 

On  the  Island  of  Ree  this  improved  mode  of  culture 
was  commenced  a  year  before   Mr.   Coste's   experiments 
were  under  way  in  the  Bay  of  St.   Brieuc,  and  in  1864, 
according  to  Galignani's  Messenger,  seventy-two  millions 
of  oysters  were  produced,  four  thousand  parks  and  claires 
being  used  in  growing   them.     Seven   thousand   of   the 
inhabitants,  many  of  them  coming  from  the  interior  of  the 
island,  were  soon  engaged  in  the  occupation.     The  whole 
thing  on  the   Island  of  Ree  was  initiated  by  a  shrewd 
stone-muson,  bearing  the  singular  name  of  Beef     Enclos- 
ing a  small  portion  of  the  shore  with  a  rough  dyke  eighteen 
inches  in  height,  and  strewing  some  large  stones  over  the 
area,  he  planted  a  few  bushels  of  oysters.     While  attend- 
ing to  his  proper  avocation  his  little  oyster  farm  was  pro- 
gressing, and  he  was  able  to  sell  thirty  dollars  worth  of  the 
young  from  his  stock  the  first  year.     By  doubling  the  size 
of  his  enclosure  he  doubled  his  sales  the  following  season, 
and  in  four  years  his  income  from  this  source  amounted  to 
two  hundred  dollars.     Of  course  his  neighbors  were  not 
slow  in  profiting  by  his  example.     The  consequence  has 
been  that   the  shore,  productive   in   oysters   many  years 
ago,  but  which  had  become  almost  worthless  from  an  accu- 
mulation  of  mud,  was  made  to  produce  many  fold  beyond 
the  yield  it  had  given  in  its  palmy  days  of  old. 

On  the  Island  of  Jersey  and  in  many  places  along  the 
English  coast,  where  oysters  had  been  grown  for  many 
years  for  the  London  and  other  large  markets,  they  are  now 


CULTURE  OF  OYSTERS.  229 

resortiug  to  the  same  mode  of  securing  the  spat  which  the 
French  have  adopted.  I  have  the  disposition  to  pursue 
this  subject,  and  would  but  for  the  limited  space  afforded. 
It  will,  however,  be  seen  from  this  short  notice  of  oyster 
culture  that  any  person  having  command  of  a  small  por- 
tion  of  shore  on  salt  water  can  not  only  grow  oysters,  but 
stock  his  beds  and  keep  up  a  succession  of  crops  without 
being  under  the  necessity  of  procuring  seed  from  a 
distance. 

A  young  friend,  with  whom  I  was  conversing  a  few 
evenings  since,  gave  me  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Lake 
Fusaro,  where  he  had  partaken  of  its  oysters.     To  procure 
them  a  stake  was  pulled  up  by  his  attendant,  and  as  many 
as  he  wanted  taken  off  and  the  stake  replaced.     This  lake 
is  on  classic  ground,  it  is  the  Avernus  of  Virgil.     It  occu- 
pies  the  bed  of  an  extinct  volcano,  and  is  a  mile  or  so  in 
extent.     The  youthful  traveller  alluded  to,  says  that  the 
French  and  English  oysters  are  very  small  and  insipid  com- 
pared with   ours,  the   size   generally  not  larger  than  a 
Spanish  dollar.    That  the  larger  ones  are  generally  coppery 
in  taste.     That  the  average  size  is  small  is  evident  from 
their  computing  fifteen  hundred  to  a  bushel;  or,  as  Mr. 
Francis  Francis  lately  remarked  in  a  letter,  "six  to  the 
mouthful." 

Most  persons  have  observed  the  aptness  of  the  young 
oyster  to  cling  to  anything  with  which  they  come  in  con- 
tact.  Th(.  wharves  of  some  of  the  cities  of  our  southern 
seaboard,  or  walls  standing  in  the  water,  are  fre(,uontly 
Covered.  So  also  are  logs  and  brush,  and  oven  the  nondnnfc 
20 


230 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


boughs  of  trees.  T  xese,  however,  are  generally  worthless. 
The  oyster  must  be  furnished  on  its  beds  with  the  food 
required  to  secure  flavor  and  fatness.  Many  of  the 
dwellers  on  the  brackish  waters  of  the  south  have  their 
family  oyster-beds  j  a  place  where  fresh  water  enters  is 
preferred. 

Our  cultivation  of  oysters  has  extended  no  further  than 
planting  them  in  favorable  locations,  some  of  which  are 
known  for  the  rapid  growth  they  give,  others  for  the  fine 
flavor  they  impart  to  the  oyster.  Many  of  our  fine  oyster- 
beds  in  Long  Island  Sound  and  to  the  eastward  have  been 
exhausted,  but  as  yet  there  is  not  much  apprehension  of 
the  supply  being  short  of  the  demand.  Henry  A.  Wise, 
Esq.,  when  governor  of  Virginia,  in  one  of  his  messages, 
estimated  the  area  of  oyster-beds  in  that  state  at  1,680,000 
acres,  containing  about  784,000,000  of  bushels.  In  pro- 
posing a  tax  of  three  cents  on  each  bushel  taken,  he  esti- 
mated the  revenue  from  that  source  at  $480,000.  If  the 
waters  of  the  state  of  Virginia  contain  784,000,000  of 
bushels,  what  must  be  the  total  produce  of  all  of  our  states 
bordering  on  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  of  Mexico  ? 


)hless. 
I  food 
f  the 
their 
ei^  is 

r  than 
ih  are 
le  fine 
)y8ter- 
?  been 
on  of 
Wise, 
usages, 
?0,000 
n  pro- 
le  esti- 
If  the 
100  of 
states 


A 


OQ 


)  / 


APPENDIX. 


I. 


NATURAL  FOOD  OP  TROUT. 

The  following,  by  Mr.  Francis  Francis,  on  the  natural 
food  of  trout  in  ponds,  lakes,  and  streams,  offers  some  valu- 
able suggestions  to  those  who  have  preserved  waters : — 

"  There  is  not  an  insect  or  small  reptile  that  inhabits  the 
soil  beneath  us,  the  air  above  us,  or  the  waters  around  us, 
that  is  not  food  for  fishes  in  a  greater  or  less  degree. 
Worms  of  all  kinds,  flies  of  all  kinds,  grubs  and  larvae 
of  all  kinds,  cockchafers,  crickets,  leeches,  snails,  humble- 
bees,  young  birds,  mice,  rats,  frogs,  bee<:rles,  all  serve  the 
turn  of  one  fish  or  another,  and  so  in  turn  help  to  prodrce 
food  for  man.  Black  beetles,  for  example,  often  looked  on 
as  a  nuisance  in  houses,  are  caviare  to  the  trout;  and  I 
have  seen  two  or  three  trout  devour  a  panful  of  them  with 
the  greatest  avidity.  Nay,  I  have  seen  a  wary  old  six- 
pound  stream  trout,  that  had  been  tempted  with  every  con- 
ceivable variety  of  bait,  succumb  to  the  temptation  of  a 
black  beetle.  Small  frogs,  just  emerged  from  tadpoleism, 
they  rejoice  in  exceedingly;  and  I  have  even  seen  them 
take  young  toads,  though  some  do  repudiate  the  taste  on 
the  trout's  part.  Nothing  living  comes  amiss,  but  doubt- 
less some  kinds  of  food  agree  with  then  far  better  than 
others.     But  we  know  very  little  on  this  branch  oi   ohe 

(23  i) 


232 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


subject.  It  is  dreamland  to  us,  with  a  very  little  ascer- 
tained waking  reality.  What  do  we  know  even  of  the 
various  breeds  of  the  same  species  of  fish,  save  the  bare 
fact  of  their  existence  ?  What  do  we  know  of  the  food 
and  conditions  most  favorable  to  them?  Consider  the 
trout.  Can  any  fish  display  greater  diversity  or  variety 
of  size  and  value  than  trout?  And  how  do  we  account 
for  it? 

"  Trout  in  one  stream  will  be  much  larger,  firmer,  red- 
der, and  better  shaped  than  in  others.     This  may,  in  a 
measure,  be  owing  to  the  greater  abundance  of  food;  but  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  proceeds  quite  as  much 
from  the  kind  of  food  that  they  are  enabled  to  obtain.     In 
some  rivers  and  lakes  we  find  the  trout  large,  handsome, 
red,  and  vigorous  fish ;  in  others,  we  find  them  small  and 
meagre ;  nay,  even  in  the  same  lake  the  fish  will  be  in- 
fluenced in  a  strange  way  by  locality,  so  much  so  that  the 
very  breed  even  appears  to  be  different.     It  would  seem 
difficult  to  account  for   this   peculiarity  upon  any  other 
hypothesis  than  that  of  food  and  the  nature  of  the  water 
and  soil  around  them,  and  yet  the  fish  appear  to  be  a 
totally  different  breed;  and  it  certainly  appears  possible 
that  the  character  of  the  fish  may  have  changed  by  de- 
grees, through  successive  generations,  and  owing  to  being 
bred  and  fed  in  a  different  manner  from  the  other  fish.     I 
have  placed  trout  from  one  stream  into  another,  and  after 
years  could  very  easily  distinguish  them  from  their  com- 
peers of  the  stream,     But  it  is  doubtful  if  their  progeny 
would  show  and  retain  their  special  characteristics,  though 
if  they  interbreed  with  the  fish  of  the  stream,  as  they 
would  be  pretty  sure  to,  the  breed  might  possibly  be  im- 
proved by  the  infusion  of  fresh  blood. 

"  Few  experiments  of  any  note  have  been  tried  in  the 
feeding  of  fish,  this  being  as  yet  almost  untrodden  ground; 


APPENDIX. 


233 


but  I  once  heard  of  an  experiment  being  tried  in  the 
following  man-.r:  Equal  numbers  of  trout  were  confined 
for  a  certain  time  by  gratings  to  three  several  portions 
of  the  same  stream.  The  fish  in  one  of  the  divisions  were 
fed  entirely  upon  flies;  in  another,  upon  minnows;  and  in 
the  third,  upon  worms.  At  the  end  of  a  certain  period, 
those  which  had  been  fed  on  flies  were  the  heaviest  and  in 
the  best  condition;  those  fed  on  minnows  occupied  the 
second  place ;  while  those  fed  on  worms  were  in  much  the 
worst  order  of  the  three.  The  probability  is,  that  had 
another  pen  been  set  off",  and  the  fish  fed  with  a  mixture 
of  all  three  species  of  food,  the  fish  in  it  would  have  far 
exceeded  any  of  the  others  in  weight  and  condition. 

"Some   rivers   notoriously   produce    larger   trout   than 
others,  although  the  character  of  the  soil  they  flow  through 
may  to  all  appearance  be  very  similar.     I  will  instance  two, 
both  of  which  are  tributaries  of  the  Thames— the  Chess,  a 
branch  of  the  Buckinghamshire  Colne;  and  the  Wick'  a 
little  stream  running  through  High  Wycombe.     I  select 
these  two  streams,  because  they  are  only  some  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  each  other,  and  because  they  are  as  nearly  as 
possible  of  a  size.     Now,  it  is  generally  supposed  that  the 
very  best  and  most  fattening  food  provided  by  Nature  for 
the  trout  is  the  may-fly,  or  green-drake.     This  fly  abounds 
in  profusion  on  the  Chess;  it  is  rarely  if  ever  seen  on  the 
Wick— in  fact,  it  may  be  said  not  to  exist  there.    The  min- 
now,  likewise  supposed  to  be  most  excellent  and  nourishing 
food  for  the  trout,  is  also  a  stranger  to  the  Wick ;  or  if  it 
exists  there,   is  not  found  in  any  considerable   number. 
Sticklebacks  and   miller's   thumbs   are   found   in   places, 
though  they  do  not  abound  in  all  parts  of  the  stream.    The 
caddis,  or  case  grub  of  the  smaller  flies,  however,  is  very 
abundant;   and  in  some  of  the  hatch-holes   there  are  a 
considerable  (luantity  of  leeches. 
20* 


234 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


"  On  the  Chess  a  trout  of  two  pounds  would  be  a  very 
fine  one,  the  fish  averaging  from  half  a  pound  to  a  pound 
and  a  quarter.  On  the  Wick  it  would  be  an  ordinary  fish  j 
indeed,  they  are  not  considered  fair  takeable  fish  under  a 
pound  and  a  half.  They  are  often  caught  of  four  and  five 
pounds,  and  I  have  known  them  to  run  up  to  seven  or 
eight  or  even  ten  pounds ;  and  this  in  a  small  stream,  little 
more  than  a  good-sized  brook,  is  a  most  astonishing  size ; 
for  not  only  do  these  fish  acquire  this  unusual  weight,  but 
they  arrive  at  it  very  rapidly  indeed.  I  have  had  many 
opportunities  of  knowing  how  they  will  increase  under 
favorable  circumstances,  as  one  of  the  fisheries  on  the 
stream  belonging  to  a  friend  of  mine  was  on  one  or  two 
occasions  almost  destroyed  by  bleach  and  tar.  water — some 
forty  or  fifty  brace  of  fish  being  all  that  were  saved  :  none 
of  them  were  over  two  pounds,  and  yet,  in  two  years,  many 
of  them  had  grown  to  six  and  seven  pounds'  weight.* 
■  "  Taking  the  Wycombe  fish  as  a  breed,  I  may  say  that 
they  are  the  heaviest  and  thickest  fish,  for  their  length,  it 
has  ever  been  my  lot  to  see ;  while  the  color  of  the  flesh 
of  a  good  fish,  instead  of  the  ordinary  pale  pink  of  a  really 
well-conditioned  trout,  is  often  of  a  deep  red,  much  redder, 
indeed,  than  that  of  salmon.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Chess 
fish  are  not  particularly  handsome,  shapely,  or  well  colored. 
Here  is  a  point  well  worthy  the  consideration  of  those  who 
wish  to  take  up  the  science  of  pisciculture.  What  par- 
ticular species  of  food  can  it  be  which  not  only  makes  up 
for  the  total  absence  of  the  may-fly  and  minnow,  but  so 
feeds  the  fish  in  this  admirable  little  stream,  that  there  is 
no  river,  large  or  small,  which  I  have  ever  seen  in  all  Eng- 

*  Since  this  was  written,  I  regret  to  say  that  again  have  the  whole 
of  his  fish"  been  destroyed  by  filth  sent  down  from  above. — F.  F., 
1861. 


APPENDIX. 


235 


land,  can  for  its  size  equal  it  in  production  ?     What,  then, 
can  be  the  particular  food  that  fattens  them  so  rapidly  ? 

"  My  own  impression  is,  that  the  fresh-water  gammari,' 
or  pulex,  to  which  I  have  previously  referred,  have  not  a 
little  to  do  with  it,  for  these  insects  abound  in  this  stream 
even  to  profusion— to  a  greater  extent,  indeed,  than  I  have 
ever  found  them  in  any  other  brook.  TLe  trout  feed  upon 
them  voraciously ;  and  it  is  a  very  common  thing  to  find  in 
the  trout  a  mass  of  these  insects,  half  digested,  and  as  large 
as  a  filbert.  I  have  seen  the  trout  picking  them  oflF  the 
walls,  which  pen  the  stream  in  some  places,  as  rapidly  as  a 
child  would  pick  blackberries  from  a  hedge  j  and  I  am  in- 
duced to  think  that  this  insect  has,  as  I  have  said,  much  to 
do  with  the  fineness  of  the  fish ;  and  the  more  so,  because, 
wherever  I  have  found  it  to  exist  in  any  quantity,  I  have 
invariably  observed  that  the  trout  are  of  fine  size,  and  in 
unusually  good  condition.* 

*  '*  These  insects  of  course  thrive  better  in  sluggish  than  in  rapid 
water,  though  they  do  well  enough  in  either  when  there  are  weeds. 
They  are  peculiarly  well  adapted  for  lakes  ;  and  were  I  owner  of  a 
lake,  I  Avould  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  introduce  -them  in  large 
numbers.  They  feed  upon  almost  anything,  and  are  the  scavengers 
of  the  wat°,r.  They  are  very  fond  of  the  large  fresh-water  mussel, 
and  destroy  and  eat  them  in  large  numbers.  These,  which  are 
easily  introduced,  should  be  as  food  for  the  trout  food.  Where  the 
streams  are  too  rapid  for  the  plentiful  production  of  the  gammari, 
it  would  be  by  no  means  a  bad  plan  to  make  here  and  there  (where 
the  situation  of  the  soil  and  the  banks  suited  such  a  plan)  small 
shallow  ponds,  supplied  with  water  by  means  of  a  small  pipe,  and 
having  an  exit  to  the  stream.  In  these  the  requisite  kind  of  weeds 
might  be  planted,  a  stock  of  these  little  insects  turned  in,  and  some 
kind  of  offal  or  other  food  occasionally  being  cast  to  them,  and  the 
insects  left  to  thrive  and  increase.  They  would  of  their  own  accord 
make  their  way  into  the  stream,  where  they  would  afford  excellent 
food  for  the  trout.  Other  kinds  of  insects  might  be  also  placed  in 
such  food-breeding  ponds,  where  they  might  propagate  and  multiply 


236 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


*'  In  lakes,  also,  it  is  a  very  common  thing  to  find  the 
trout  in  one  lake  large,  bright,  and  we'!  fed,  and  in  another, 
very  similar  in  appearance,  and  perhaps  only  a  bare  half- 
mile  distant  from  the  other,  they  will  be  long,  black,  and 
lean,  with  heads  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  thickness  of 
the  body.     In  another,  probably  but  a  similar  distance 
from  the  first  two,  the  trout  will  be  abundant,  but  very 
small,  though  bright  and  well  colored.     These  varieties,  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe,  are  caused  partly  by  a  differ- 
ence of  water,  produced  by  the  absence  or  presence  of  cer- 
tain plants,  these  of  course  giving  a  diflFerence  of  food.    To 
exemplify  this :  I  remember  some  years  since,  while  fishing 
in  a  wild  part  of  Donegal,  near  the  little  village  of  Ardara, 
coming  upon  a  cluster  of  small  lakes.    The  trout  in  some  of 
these  lakes  were  small,  bright,  and  very  plentiful;  in  others, 
they  were  of  a  good  size,  but  not  handsome.     But  in  one 
of  the  lakes,  a  small  one — a  mere  pool,  of  perhaps  a  couple 
or  three  acres  in  extent — my  attendant  informed  me  that 
the  trout,  though  of  a  dark  color,  owing  to  the  peat  color 
and  depth  of  the  water,  were  large  and  well-shaped,  and 
of  good  flavor,  often  running  up  to  five  and  six,  and  even 
seven  or  eight  pounds'  weight.     But  the  lake  was  what  is 
termed  among  anglers  '  a  sulky  lake,'  that  h,  the  fish  very 
rarely  rose  well  at  the  fly,  and  probably  it  might  be  fished 
a  dozen  times  without  producing  a  single  fish,  though  ther«) 
were  times  and  vlays,  if  the  angler  chanced  to  hit  upon 
them,  when  very  good  fishing  might  be  had,  and  when  the 
lake  appeared  alive  with  fish.     I  fished  the  pool,  however, 
and  had  the  good  fortune,  by  sinking  the  fly,  to  take  one 

in  safety.  By  such  a  method  as  this  almost  any  8  .nount  of  the  food 
best  suited  to  the  trout  might  no  doubt  easily  be  produced.  For  if 
we  increase  the  stock  of  Jish,  we  must,  of  course,  if  their  size  and 
weight  is  to  be  kept  up,  (/row  food  for  them  somehow,  and  this  seeuiS 
not  to  be  a  very  difficult  plan." 


APPENDIX. 


237 


of  the  fcrout,  a  ctrong,  well-shaped  fish,  though  somewhat 
dark  in  color,  and  of  two  pounds'  weight.     We  also  caught 
specimens  of  the  fish  in  the  other  lakes,  and  the  difference 
between  the  fish  I  have  already  mentioned.     While  fishing 
the  small  lake  I  accidentally  allowed  my  fly  to  sink  to  the 
bottom,  and  on  pulling  it  up  again  with  some  difficulty  I 
brought  up  a  large  piece  of  a  thick  moss-like  green  weed, 
with  which  the  bottom  of  the  pool  appeared  to  abound. 
On  examining  this  weed  more  closely,  I  found  it  swarming 
with  a  variety  of  insects,  chiefly  water-snails,  the  small 
Crustacea  that  inhabit  fresh  water,   and   large  quantities 
of  the  caddis  of  some  considerable  fly.     The  abundance  of 
food  thus  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  lake  fully  accounted 
not  only  for  the  large  size  and  good  condition  of  the  fi&a, 
but  also  for  its  being  a  sulky  lake,  or  for  the  trout  not  pay- 
ing much  attention  to  the  flies  upon  the  surface  of  the 
water.     For  they  had  no  difficulty  in  procuring  any  quan- 
tity of  food  they  needed  at  the  bottom,  without  swimming 
hither  and  thither  to  seek  it,  or  giving  themselves  the 
trouble  to  come  to  the  top.     Colonel  Whyte  also  mentioned 
a  fact  somewhat  of  this  nature,  some  time  since,  in  the 
*  Field.'     He  related,  that  wishing  to  improve  the  size  and 
condition  of  his  fish  in  a  small  lake,  he  cast  into  it  a  bushel 
of  the  small  Crustacea,  which  are  often  found  on  water- 
weeds.     These  increased  rapidily,  and  as  they  did  so  his 
trout  increased  in  size  and  improved  in  condition  wonder- 
fully:  but  it  is  also  fair  to  say,  that  they  became  much 
shyer  of  rising  to  the  fly.     Probably  the  reason  why  the 
fish  sometimes  rise  well  to  flies,  and  not  at  others,  in  lakes 
like  those  of  Donegal  (which  are  by  no  means  few),  is 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  abundance  of  caddis  at  the  bot- 
tom may  be  undergoing  some  transformation,  into  flies  per- 
haps, which  ascend  rapidly  to  the  top  of  the  water,  and  the 
trout  are  thus  led  in  pursuit  of  them  to  the  top  of  the  water, 


238 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


where  the  insects  rest,  and  are  easily  captured.  If  anglers, 
being  aware  of  this  fact,  made  some  little  study  of  ento- 
mology, so  far  as  to  know  about  the  time  when  these  insects 
undergo  their  transformations,  they  might  not  be  induced 
to  seek  such  lakes  so  often  in  vain.  In  the  instance  I  have 
noted  the  lake  is  deep,  and  the  water  dark ;  and  the  fish  at 
the  bottom,  engaged  with  ground  food,  do  not  see  the  flies 
at  the  top. 

*'  In  the  great  Irish  lakes,  as  Lough  Erne,  Lough  Arrow, 
the  Westmeath  lakes,  and  others,  the  large  trout  which  in- 
habit these  lakes  never  come  to  the  surface  in  any  number, 
save  at  the  rise  of  the  may -fly.  In  a  good  fly  season  they 
rise  with  great  freedom,  and  wonderful  takes  are  made ;  at 
other  times  they  can  only,  save  at  rare  intervals,  be  picked 
up  by  spinning.  Of  course  I  am  not  referring  to  the  small 
things  that  get  on  the  shallows,  but  to  the  sly  old  fellows 
who  scorn  a  midge-fly.  On  'Ae  1  hames,  also,  the  large 
Thames  trout  are  always  more  upon  the  rise  and  on  the 
lookout  for  flies  when  the  big  stone-fly  (which  is  a  perfect 
monster  on  the  Thames),  puts  in  an  appearance  in  April, 
or  when  the  few  green  drakes  that  are  found  in  it  show 
themselves.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  large  fish 
will  take  notice  of  anything  but  large  flies,  because  it  would 
take  myriads  of  the  smaller  ones  to  make  a  meal  for  them ; 
and  therefore  it  should  be  the  aim  of  the  pisciculturist  to 
increase,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  by  the  importation 
of  larvae,  &c.,  the  larger  flies,  if  he  desires  to  improve  the 
fly-fishing  in  any  lake  or  river. 

"  Again,  I  will  instance  the  fish  in  Loch  Leven,  which 
grow  to  a  fine  size,  and  are  almost  always  in  superb  con- 
dition. The  bottom  of  the  lake,  in  places,  is  grown  over 
with  a  peculiar  weed ;  in  this  is  found  a  great  variety  of 
insects,  chiefly  Crustacea,  as  small  snails  of  various  sorts : 
the  lake  also  abounds  in  the  more  minute  entomostraceae. 


APPENDIX. 


m 


Large  quantities  of  both  are  often  found  in  the  stomachs 
of  the  trout  when  taken.     Here  sport  with  the  fly  is  gener- 
ally good,  because  the  lake  is  shallow  and  clear,  and  thd 
fish  see  the  fly  well.     In  other  lakes  again,  where  these 
species  of  weeds,  which  form  the  harbor  and  subsistence 
of  these  insects,  are  wanting,  it  will  usually  be  found  that 
the  trout  are  small,  or,  if  large,  ill-fed  and  meagre.     I 
know  also  a  small  lake  in  Wales,  where  the  fish  never  take 
a  fly  until  after  dark,  when  fish  from  two  to  three  pounds' 
weight  (an  unusual  size  for  Wales)  rnay  be  taken.     This 
lake  abounds  in  leeches,  and  the  trout  are  very  fine  in  it. 
A  quarter  of  a  mile  oflF  is  a  similar  lake,  in  which  trout  do 
not  thrive  at  all,  and,  indeed,  are  seldom  found;  while 
about  a  mile  from  it  are  one  or  two  small  lakes,  in  which 
the  trout  do  not  average  three  ounces.     And  yet  the  char- 
acter  of  the  lakes,  and  the  soil  in  and  about  all  of  them, 
are  apparently  precisely  similar. 

"  Yet  one  more   instance   I  must  select,  to  show  the 
changeable  and  contrary  habits  of  fish.     In  a  large  mill- 
pool,  belonging  to  a  friend  at  Alton,  are  some  wonderfully 
fine  trout,  the  trout  running  from  two  to  twelve  pounds. 
To  take  trout  of  five  and  six  pounds  with  the  fly,  and  to 
hook  them  of  even  larger  size,  is  not  at  all  uncommon. 
Last  season  (the  summer  of  '64)  I  took  four  fish  in  two 
evenings,  which   together  weighed  close  upon  seventeen 
pounds,  and  magnificent  fish  they  were.     Yet  the  fish  in 
the  stream  that  feeds  the  pool  seldom  get  beyond  two 
pounds,  or  thereabouts,  in  weight;   of  course  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  food  in  the  pool,  mainly  consisting  of  water- 
snails   and  sticklebacks.     Some  years  the  fish  run  very 
freely  at  the  minnow,  and  do  not  notice  the  fly  much,  but 
in  other  years  the  minnow  is  at  a  discount,  and  the  fly  at  a 
premium.     I  have  never  seen  any  very  large  flies  in  the 
pool,  yet  the  flies  the  fish  take  are  usually  large  palmers— 


240 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


like  nothing,  I  should  think,  which  they  can  be  in  the 
habit  of  seeing.  This  case  differs  entirely  from  any  I  have 
remarked  elsewhere,  and  it  is  to  me  as  yet,  I  confess,  a 
piscatorial  puzzle.  A  close  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the 
pond,  as  concerns  insects  and  weeds,  would  no  doubt  throw 
some  light  on  this  interesting  fact,  which  I  hope  some  day 
to  be  able  to  make,  as  it  appears  to  combine  the  best  sport 
and  the  largest  fish — which  is  precisely  the  point  we  desire 
to  arrive  at. 

"  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  condition  and  size  of 
trout,  as  well  c.s  other  fish,  depend  almost  wholly  upon  the 
supply  of  food,  and  I  think  I  have  shown  that  the  particu- 
lar kinds  of  food  are  also  a  great  desideratum.  Now,  it 
being  known  that  particular  kinds  of  weed  are  favorable 
to  the  production  ^X  certain  species  of  insects,  what  can 
be  easier — when  the  soil  is  favorable  to  such  a  measure — 
than  to  transplant  a  sufficient  quantity  of  these  weeds,  and 
the  larvae  of  the  insects  which  will  almost  always  be  found 
to  abound  in  them,  from  one  lake  and  from  one  stream  to 
another?  For  example,  with  respect  to  the  gammari  so 
often  noted,  what  could  be  easier  than  to  transplant  weed  ? 
This  would  serve  as  food  for  the  large  fresh-water  mussel 
found  in  almost  all  waters,  and  it  would  serve  as  food  for 
the  gammari,  which  in  turn  would  serve  as  food  for  the 
fishes.  It  may  be  said,  with  regard  to  some  lakes  and 
streams,  that  they  are  so  gravelly  and  rocky,  that  the  weeds 
would  hardly  thrive  in  them ;  but  it  is  seldom  indeed  that 
soniu  nooks  and  corners  do  not  exist,  in  or  about  the  banks 
of  lakes  and  streams,  where  there  may  be  found  sufficient 
8oil,  which,  with  a  slight  admixture  ot  the  natural  spil,  and  a 
judicious  planting  of  these  weeds,  may  not  be  made  to  grow 
them  to  some  small  extent ;  and  the  weeds,  once  introduced, 
will  gradually  increase  year  by  year,  forming  their  own  soil, 
and  naturally  producing  those  requsites  which  are  the  most 


APPENDIX. 


241 


favorable  to  their  production.     Of  course  judgment  must 
be  exercised  in  carrying  out  such  experiments,  quite  as 
much  as  would  be  exercised  in  the  introduction  or  culti- 
vation  of  a  new  food-producing  plant  in  agriculture.     We 
acclipiatize  every  species  of  agricultural  plant,  and  examine 
Its  qualities  and  capabilities,  for  cattle,  or  for  ourselves; 
we  study  the  soil  and  manure  suited  to  it,  &c.,  &c. ;  we 
have  shows  and  prizes  for  the  best  specimens  of  agricul- 
tural  productions,  and  thousands  of  persons  assemble  to  note 
and  study  them ;  but  who  ever  thinks  of  accHmatizing  an 
apparently  worthless  water-weed  V 


n. 

MESSRS.  MARTIN  AND  GILLONE'S  SYSTEM  OP  HATCHING 
AND  REARING  YOUNG  SALMON.* 

In  addition  to  the  group  of  salmon-breeding  ponds  at 
Stormontfield,  a  very  successful  suite  of  breeding-boxes  has 
been  laid  down  on  the  river  Dee,  in  the  Stewartry  of  Kirk- 
cudbright,  by  Messrs.  Martin  and  Gillone,  the  lessees  of 
the  river  Dee  salmon-fisheries.     Mr.  Gillone,  who  is  an 
adept  in  the  art  of  fish  culture,  was  one  of  the  earliest  to 
experiment  on  the  salmon,  and  so  long  ago  as  1830  had 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  parr  were  young  salmon,  and 
that  that  tiny  animal  changed  at  a  given  period  into  a 
smolt,  and  in   time  became  a  valuable  table-fish.     These 
early  experiments  of  Mr.  Gillone's  were  not  in  any  sense 
commercial;  they  were  conducted   solely  with  a  view  to 
solve  what  was  then  a  curious  problem  in  salmon-growth 
In   later  years  Mr.  Gillone  and  his  partner  have  entered 
upon  salmon  breeding  as  an  adjunct  of  their  fisheries  on 
the  river  Doe,  for  which,  as  tacksmen,  they  pay  a  rental  of 


-  21 


*  From  the  "  Harvest  of  the  Sea." 


I 


242 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


l\ 


upwards  of  £1200  per  annum.  The  breeding-boxes  of 
Messrs.  Martin  and  Gillone  have  been  fitted  up  on  a  very 
picturesque  part  of  the  river  at  Tongueland,  and  the  num- 
ber of  eggs  last  brought  to  maturity  is  considerably  over 
100,000.  The  present  series  of  hatchings  for  comm^cial 
purposes  was  begun  in  1862-3  with  25,000  eggs,  followed 
in  the  succeeding  year  by  a  laying  down  of  nearly  double 
that  number.  The  hatchings  of  these  seasons  were  very 
unsuccessful,  the  loss  from  many  causes  bei'-'»  very  great, 
for  the  manipulation  of  fish  eggs  dui-ing  the  time  of  their 
artificial  extraction  and  impregnation  requires  great  care — 
a  little  maladroitness  being  sufficient  to  spoil  thousands. 

The  last  hatching  (spring  1865)  has  been  most  suc- 
cessfully dealt  with.  Messrs.  Martin  and  Gillone's  breed- 
ing-boxes are  all  under  cover,  being  placed  in  a  large 
lumber  store  connected  with  a  biscuit  manufactory.  This 
chamber  is  severity  feet  long,  and  there  is  a  double  row  of 
boxes  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  place.  These 
recept":les  for  the  eggs  are  made  of  wood ;  they  are  three 
feet  long,  one  foot  wide,  and  four  inches  deep,  and  into  the 
whole  series  a  range  of  frames  has  been  fitted  containing 
glass  troughs  on  which  to  lay  the  eggs.  The  edges  of  the 
glass  are  ground  off,  and  they  are  fitted  angularly  across 
the  current  in  the  shape  of  a  V.  The  eggs  are  laid  down 
on,  or  rather  sown  into,  these  troughs,  from  a  store  bottle, 
on  to  which  is  fitted  a  tapering  funnel.  The  flow  of  water, 
which  is  derived  from  the  river,  and  is  filtered  to  prevent 
the  admission  of  any  impurity,  is  very  gentle,  being  at  the 
rate  of  about  fifteen  feet  per  minute,  and  is  kept  perfectly 
retrular.  The  boxes  are  all  fitted  with  lids,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  eggs  from  being  devoured,  as  is  often  done,  by 
ruts  and  other  vermin,  and  also  to  assimilate  the  condi- 
tions of  artificial  hatching  as  much  as  possible  to  those  of 
the  natural  breeding-beds — where,  of  course,  the  eggs  are 


APPENDIX. 


243 


IZkneJ^  ^^^^  g'-^^^J  ^"d  are  hatched  in  comparative 

It  may  be  of  some  use,  particularly  to  those  who  are 
interested  in  pisciculture,  to  note  a  few  details  Connected 
with  the  capturing  of  the  gravid  fish  and  the  plan  of 
exuding  the  ova  practised  at  Tongueland.  The  river  Dee 
^s  tolerably  well  stocked  with  fish,  as  may  be  surmised  from 
the  rent  I  have  named  as  being  paid  for  the  right  of  fish- 

'"^\«  ,  r  ^'""""^  ^^°P^'  ^^^  P^^"'  ^-^^  aJ«o  in  use  at  Stor- 
montfield,  of  capturing  his  fish  in  good  time-in  fact,  as  a 

general  rule,  before  the  eggs  are  ripe-and  of  confining 
them  in   his  mill-race  till  they  are  thoroughlv  ready  for 
manipulation      Last  season-/.  ..,  in  Novemb;r  and  De- 
cember  1864,  and  January  1865-as  many  as  thirty-six 
female  fish  were  taken  for  their  roe,  the  number  of  milters 
being  twenty-five,  ^he  total  weight  of  the  lot  being  454  lbs 
or,  on  the  average,  six  and  a  half  pounds  each  fish      Ac- 
cording to  rule,  the  weight  of  the  female  fish  taken  having 
been  283  lbs,  these  ought  to  have  yielded  283,000  e<'L^s 
but  as  several  of  the  fish  were  about  ripe  at  the  time  tW 
were   caught,   they  spawned    naturally  in   the    mill-race 
where  the  eggs  in  due  time  came  to  life.     The  plan  of 
spawning  pursued  at  Tongueland  is  as  follows  :-Whenever 
the  fish  are  supposed  to  be  ripe  for  that  process,  the  water 
IS  shut  out  of  the  dam,  and  the  animal  is  first  placed  in  a 
box  filled  with  water  in  order  to  its  examination;  if  ready 
to  be  operated  upon,  it  is  then  transferred  to  a  trough  filled 
w.th  water  about  three  feet  and  a  half  long,  seven  inches 
m   breadth,  and  of  corresponding  depth,  and   the  roe  ,.r 
m.lt  is  pressed  out  of  the  fish  just  in  the  position  in  which 
It  swims.     As  soon    as  the  eggs  are  secured,  a  portion  of 
the  water  is  poured  out  of  the  wooden  vessel,  and  the  male 
hsh  .8  then  similarly  treated.     The  milt  and  roe  are  mixed 


244 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


by  hand  stirring,  and  the  eggs  then  being  washed  are  dis- 
tributed into  the  boxes. 

Mr.  Grillone  carries  on  all  his  operations  with  the 
greatest  possible  precision.  He  has  a  large  clear  glass 
bottle  marked  oflF  in  divisions,  each  of  which  contains  800 
eggs,  and  he  numbers  the  divisions  allotted  to  each  par- 
ticular fish,  which  are  sown  into  a  similarly  numbered 
division  in  his  box,  so  that  by  referring  to  his  index-book 
he  can  trace  out  any  peculiarity  in  the  eggs,  etc. 


III. 


CULTURE  OF  CARP.* 

In  ancient  times  there  used  to  be  immense  ponds  filled 
with  carp  in  Prussia,  Saxony,  Bohemia,  Mecklenburg,  ar.d 
Holstein,  and  the  fish  was  bred  and  brought  to  market  with 
as  much  regularity  as  if  it  had  been  a  fruit  or  a  vegetable. 
The  carp  yields  its  spawn  in  great  quantities,  no  fewer  than 
700,000  eggs  having  been  fonnd  in  a  fish  of  moderate 
weight  (ten  pounds) ;  and,  being  a  hardy  fish,  it  is  easily 
cultivated,  so  that  it  would  be  profitable  to  breed  in  ponds 
for  the  fishmarkets  of  populous  places,  and  the  fish-sales- 
men assure  us  that  there  would  be  a  large  demand  for  good 
fresh  carp.  It  is  necessary,  according  to  the  best  autho- 
rities, to  have  the  ponds  in  suites  of  three — viz.,  a  spawn- 
ing-pond, a  nursery,  and  a  receptacle  for  the  largo  fish — 
and  to  regulate  the  numbers  of  breeding  fish  according  to 
the  surface  of  woter.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  go  minutely 
into  the  construction  of  carp-ponds ;  but  I  may  be  allowed 
to  say  that  it  is  always  best  to  select  such  a  spot  for  their 
site  as  will  give  the  engineer  as  little  trouble  as  possible. 


*  From  the  '« Harvest  of  the  Sea." 


APPENDIX. 


245 


Twe  ve  acres  of  water  divided  into  three  parts  would  allow 
a  splendjd  senes  of  ponds-the  first  to  be  three  acres  in 
extent,  the  second  an  acre  more,  and  the  third  to  be  five 

Is  withT  .  ''  •'  ""^  ^'  '^""  '^'''"'^  ^^^^  ^i^h  water 
as  with  land,  a  given  space  can  only  yield  a  given  amount 

of  produce,  therefore  the  ponds  must  not  be  overstocked 

with  brood.     Two  hundred  carp,  twenty  tench,  and  twenty 

jack  per  acre  ,s  an  ample  stock  to  begin  breeding  with.    A 

very  profitable  annual  return  would  be  obtained  from  these 

twelve  acres   of  water;  and,  as  many  country  gentlemen 

have  even    arger  .heets  than  twelve  acres,  /re'commL 

this  plan  of  stocking  them  with  carp  to  their  attention. 

Ihere  is  only  the  expense  of  construction  to  look  to,  as  an 

under-keeper  or  gardener  could  do  all  that  was  necessary  in 

lookin,  after  the  fish.    A  gentleman  having  a  large  estate  n 

Saxony^^on  which  were  situated  no  less  than  twenty  pond 

TsVck  o'T/^'rr ''  r-*^-— es,  fou'nd'  :S 

his  stock  of  fish  added  greatly  to  his  income.  Some  of  the 
carp  weighed  fifty  pounds  each,  and  upon  the  occasion  f 
draining  one  of  his  ponds,  a  supply  of  fish  weighing  five 
thousand  ponds  was  taken  out;  and  for  good  carp  it  tvould 
be  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  six  pence  per  pound  wei.^ht 
ecu  d  easily  be  obtained,  which,  for  a  quantity  like  C 
sterlin'      ""'"  S^'^'^^"^^'^'  ^^^^^  amount  to  the  sum  ol"  £125 


ig- 


IV. 


DISCOVERY  or  ARTIFICIAL  FECUNDATION  BY  JACORI.. 

of  nJJ^f;  f''n'' "J''"*'"'"'  ^"  '^'  «"^^"  principality 
f  Lippe-Detmoldt,  first  announced,  in  the  pages  of  the 

Hannover  Magazin,"  a  periodical  published  in  the  i.wn 


*  FronyVgrkultural  Report,  1866.     By  Tlieodorc  Gill,  M.  D. 


T 


246 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


indicated  by  its  title,  the  results  of  experiments,  conducted 
for  about  thirty  years,  on  the  artificial  fecundation  of  the 
salmon  and  trout,  and  this  memoir,  in  its  entirety  or  in  ab- 
stracts, was  published  in  Berlin  and  Paris,  and  the  discovery 
directly  communicated  to  several  of  the  prominent  natural- 
ists of  the  day,  especially  Buffon.  Jacobi  even  received 
from  the  English  government  a  pension,  in  appreciation 
of  the  importance  of  his  discovery.  Artificial  fecundation, 
soon  afterwards  practised  on  a  larger  scale  at  Noterlem, 
also  in  the  kingdom  of  Hanover,  yielded  favorable  results. 
Jacobi  having  recognised  the  nature  of  the  sexual  relations 
of  the  fishes,  and  that  the  female,  when  spawning,  was  fol- 
•  lowed  by  the  male,  who  dropped  his  milt  over  the  ova  of  his 
companion,  and  thus  fertilized  them,  inferred  that  nature 
may  b'^  imitated  and  assisted  by  man.  He  therefore  took  a 
clean  wooden  bucket  or  shallow  tub,  and  emptied  into  it  a 
pint  of  clear  water.  Taking  then  a  female  salmon  whose  ova 
were  mature,  he  expressed  them  by  a  gentle  pressure  of  the 
hand  down  the  abdomen,  and  treated  a  male  fish  in  the 
same  manner,  discharging  his  milt  over  the  ova. 

The  ova,  thus  fercilized,  were  then  placed  in  a  box  made 
for  the  purpose,  and  which  is  thus  described  by  Jacobi,  as 
translated  by  Fry  : — 

"  The  box  may  be  constructed  of  any  suitable  size :  for 
example,  eleven  feet  long,  a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  and  six 
inches  high.  At  one  extremity  should  be  left  an  opening 
six  inches  square,  covered  by  a  grating  of  iron  or  brass 
wire,  the  wires  not  being  more  than  four  lines  apart.  At 
the  other  extremity,  on  the  side  of  the  box,  should  be  made 
a  sinular  opening,  six  inches  wide  by  four  inches  high, 
similarly  grated.  This  one  will  serve  for  the  escape  of  the 
water,  the  other  for  its  entranfo,  and  the  grating  will  pre- 
vent water-rats  or  any  destructive  insects  from  reaching  the 
eggs.     The  top  of  the  box  should  be  t^Iu&ely  shut  for  the 


APPENDIX. 


247 


same  reason;  but  a  grated  opening,  similar  to  the  rest,  six 
inches  square,  may  be  left  to  give  light  to  the  young  fish, 
liiis,  however,  is  not  absolutely  necessary. 

"  A  suitable  place  should  then  be  chosen  for  the  box 
near  a  rivulet,  or  what  is  still  better,  near  a  pond  supplied 
with  running  water,  from  which  may  be  drawn,  by  a  little 
canal,  a  stream,  say  an  inch  thick,  which  should  be  made 
to  pass  continually  through  the  gratings  and  through  the 

^  "Lastly  the  bottom  of  the  box,  to  the  thickness  of  an 
inch  should  be  covered  with  sand  or  gravel,  and  over  this 
should  be  spread  a  bed  oT  stones  of  the  size  of  nuts  or 
acorns;  th,.s  will  be  made  a  little  artificial  brook  running 
over  a  gravelly  bottom."  .  ^ 

The  fecundated  oggs  are  spread  "  in  one  of  the  boxes  so 
placed,  and  the  water  of  the  little  rivulet  passes  over  them 
care  being  taken  that  it  does  not  run  with  such  rapidity  as 
to  displace  and  carry  away  with  it  the  eggs,  for  it  is  neces- 
sary  they  should  remain  undisturbed  between  the  pebbles  " 
Care  must  be  taken  to  remove,  from  time  to  time,  the 
dirt  which  IS  carried  by  the  water  and  deposited  on  these 
eggs;  this  can  be  done  by  stirring  about  the  water  with  a 
quill  leather. 

Using  such  precautions,  and  profiting  by  the  experience 
gained  in  the  course  of  his  experiments,  Jacobi  perfectly 
succeeded  ^„  his  attempts,  and  to  him  belongs,  unquestion- 
ably,  the  merit  of  first  artificially  fecundating  the  eggs  of 
fishes,  or  at  least,  the  first  publication  of  the  principles 
of  the  art  and  of  the  results  which  would  logically  flow 


248  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


V. 

ARTIFICIAL   SPAWNING-BEDS.* 

While  artificial  fecundation  apparently  fulfils  the  chief 
requisites  for  the  propagation  of  some  fishes,  such  as  the 
salmonids,  there  are  others  for  which  it  cannot  be  employed 
with  equal  advantage.  Nature  has,  in  such  cases,  been 
assisted  by  the  preparation  of  places  suitable  for  the  deposit 
of  the  ova  and  milt  of  the  fishes  which  it  is  desired  to  pro- 
pagpfce,  and  by  the  preparation  for  such  of  beds  which  will 
be  instinctively  resorted  to  by  them.  This  practice  has 
been  especially  employed  in  France,  and  has  been  very 
recently  advocated  by  the  celebrated  academician,  M.  E. 
Blanchard,  professor  at  the  museum  of  natural  history,  &c., 
in  an  excellent  work  on  the  fresh-water  fishes  of  France. 
The  obvious  advantages  resulting  from  the  exposition  of  an 
author's  own.  words,  induce  the  writer  to  submit  a  transla- 
tion from  M,  Blan  chard's  work  : — 

*'  In  view  of  the  present  condition  of  the  rivers  and  canals 
of  France,  the  idea  of  artificial  spawning-beds  would  appear 
to  be  a  most  happy  one.  M.  Millet,  before  the  Society  of 
Acclimatization,  has  insisted,  with  great  earnestness,  on  the 
preference  to  be  given,  in  many  oases,  to  artifi'  ial  spawning- 
beds  over  artificial  fecundation.  M.  Coste  has  justly  re- 
marked that  artificial  fecundation  is  not  all-suflScic^t,  and 
yet  a  contrary  opinion  is  generally  prevalent.  No  one  has 
forgotten  the  marvellou'-  results  which  we  were  to  obtain 
by  means  of  artificial  fecundation  ;  fishes,  left  to  themselves, 
could  not  thrive  and  have  a  numerous  progeny.  Their 
duties  should  be  assumed  by  us,  and  the  advantages  would 
be  incalculable.     More  than  fifteen  years  have  elapsed  since 

*  From  Agricultural  Report,  1866. 


APPENDIX. 


249 


these  seductive  announcements  were  made,  without  having 
yet  furnished  briliant  results.  j  , 

Among  fishes,  some,  as  the  salmon,  deposit  their  ova  in 
slight  excavations,  in  gravel,  or  in  the  interstices  between 
stones;  others,  as  the  perches,  and  cyprinids  (carp,  bream, 
roach,  &c.),  attach  their  ova,  agglutinated  together  by 
means  of  a  viscid  matter,  to  aquatic  plants,  stones,  or  any 
bodies  to  which  their  eggs  can  be  fixed.  It  is  especially 
for  the  last  that  artificial  spawning-beds  migh^  sometimes 
be  advantageously  prepared. 

"  The  construction  of  an  artificial  spawning-bed  is  a  very 
simple  matter.     A  framework  of  sticks  or  laths  should  be 
made,  and  to  such  framework,  boughs,  furze,  and  aquatic 
plants  should  be  fastened  by  cords,  in   such  a  way  as  to 
form  irregular  structures.     It  is  also  easy  to  give  to  struc- 
tures of  this  kind  a  9ircular  form,  by  taking  hoops  for 
frameworks.     The  form,  and  especially  the  size  to  be  given 
to  these  spawning-beds,  would  necessarily  vary,  according 
to  the  character  or  the  size  of  the  body  of  water  in  which 
they  are  to  be  immersed.     They  should  be  held  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  water  by  stones,  and  fastened  to  a  stake  or  post 
on  the  bank.     When  kept  in  place  in  this  way  they  can  be 
easily  drawn  out  of  the  water,  if  it  becomes  necessary  to 
do  so. 

''  It  will  be  readily  understood  that  these  artificial  spawn- 
ing-beds  will  be  especially  serviceable  in  those  streams  and 
canals  which  are  so  clear  as  to  be  devoid  of  any  natural 
spawning-beds. 

"  For  the  salmonids,  which  spawn  on  a  gravelly  bottom, 
and  whose  ova  remain  free,  artificial  spawning-places  are 
very  simple  and  readily  prepared.  It  is  only  requisite  to 
cover  in  certain  places  the  beds  of  rather  shallow  and  rapid 
streams,  near  the  bank  or  the  bottom  of  rivulets,  with  a 
thick  layer  of  gravel  or  pebbles,  and  to  prepare  slight  ex- 


250 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


cavations  or  furrows,  like  those  made  by  the  salmon  or 
trout,  to  deposit  their  eggs  in.  M.  Millet  also  recommends 
that  smf-.i  i'  !:ip!*  '"'>  pebbles  should  be  raised  at  the  edges 
of  thcrio  ftiri'v-i.  By  means  of  tLese  contrivances,  trout, 
especially,  would  often  be  attracted,  an^  be  content  to  stop 
and  spawn  in  places  which  they  would  not  otherwise  fre- 
quent, and  where  it  would  be  convenient  to  keep  them/ 


VT. 

THE    GOURAML— ITS    HABITAT,    OR    NATIVE    COUNTRY.* 

Among  foreign  fishes,  none  has  excited  so  much  interest, 
in  an  economical  point  of  view,  or  has  been  the  subject  of  so 
many  attempts  at  acclimatization  among  the  French,  as  the 
celebrated  gourami — the  Osphromenus  gonrami  of  natural- 
ists.•]"  A  somewhat  extended  notice  of  its  peculiarities  and 
relations  to  other  fishes,  its  habits,  and  of  ilio  attempts 
made  to  a'iclimatize  it  in  France  and  her  colonies  will, 
therefore,  doubtless  be  acceptable. 

The  native  home  of  the  gourami  is  the  fresh  waters  of 
the  Malaccan  islands — Java,  Madura,  Sumatra,  and  Bor- 
neo ;  and  froin  the  inhabitants  of  those  islands  we  derive 
the  name  as  well  as  the  fish  itself  |  It  has  been  attributed 
as  a  native  to  China,  but  erroneously.  It  has  been  intro- 
duced into  China,  however,  us  well  as  into  Pinang,  Ma- 
lacca, Mauritius,  Keunion  or  Bourbon,  Martinique,  and 
Cayenne.  The  gourami  attains  a  very  large  size,  and 
reaches,  it  is  said,  five  or  even  six  feet  in  length,  and  a 


\rrom  Agricultural  Report,  1866.     By  Theodore  Gill,  M.  D. 
t  This  species  is  also  known  as  the  Osphromenus  olfax,  but  the 
prior  name  is  that  here  adopted. 

X  The  proper  prouunciation  would  b'i  best  indicated  by  gurahmee. 


APPENDIX. 


251 


weight  of  more  than  110  pounds.  It  may  be  readily 
understood,  however,  that  it  attains  these  large  dimensions 
only  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  and  fish  of  20 
pounds  weight  are  not  very  common. 

The  gourami  belongs  to  a  family  of  fishes  which   has 
always  provoked  interest  by  the  singular  adaptations  for 
holding  supplies  of  water  in  peculiar  reservoirs  or  organs 
developed  from  the  first  of  the  gill  arches,  and  which  has 
obtained  for  the  family  the  name  of  fishes  with  labyrinthi- 
torm      pharyngeals,"   or  Lahyrinthici.     Like  other  bony 
fishe.,  the  gourami  and  its  kindred  have  four  cartilaginous 
arches,  and  each  of  these  bears  on  the  external  or  convex 
edge  a  gill  which  is  double,  or  composed  of  two  leaflets; 
behind  these  arches  are  two  somewhat  flattened  bones,  con- 
tiguous  at  their  internal  edges,  and  bearing  minute  teeth, 
called  the  lower  pharyngeal  bones,  and  above,  connected 
with  the  ends  of  the  posterior  gill  arches,  are  other  flat 
teeth-bearing  bones,  known  as  the  upper  pharyngeals- 
hese,  too,  are  shared  with  most  fishes;  but,  in  addLn  to 
these   a  peculiar  superbranchial  organ  is  developed  from 
the  third  or  terminal  portion,  or  articulation  of  the  first 
branchial  or  gill  arch;   this  organ   is  composed  of  thin 
more  or  less  expanded  lamina,  or  leaflets,  which  form  more 
or  less  complicated  chambers  or  cavities.     These  chambers 
receive  and  contain   a  supply  of  water  which  furnishes 
sufficient  to  moisten  the  gills  and  enable  them  to  perform 
their  functions  of  aerating  the  blood  long  after  the  fish  has 
been  isolated  from  the  water ;  this  structure  is  also  asso- 
rted with  contracted  branchial  apertures  or  giU-holes, 
while  the  gill-eove.s  are  closely  appressed  to  the  shoulders 
and  the  fish  is  thus  enabled  still  better  to  eke  out  its  sup- 
ply  of  water.     As  a  consequence  of  this  beneficent  pro- 
vision,  we  find  that  the  fishes  of  this  family  are  enabled 
in  an  extraordinary  degree,  to  sustain  deprivation  of  water' 


252  AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 

and  that  some  at  least  can  leave  the  waters,  or  the  places 
now  dried  up  which  they  have  inhabited,  and  travel  on 
land  for  some  distance,  to  seek  more  favorable  resorts.  It 
is  to  this  family  that  the  celebrated  climbing  fish  of  the 
East  Indies  (Anabas  scandens)  belongs ;  and  to  this  same 
family  equally  belongs  the  Pla  Kat  of  Siam  (^Betta  j)ug- 
nax),  which  is  raised  by  the  Siamese  for  game  purposes, 
individuals  of  the  species  being  pitted  against  each  other, 
and  fighting  with  as  much  vim  and  animosity  as  their 
warm-blooded  rivals,  the  game-cocks.  Still  another  species 
(the  Macropodus  viridi  auratus)  is  said  to  be  reared  for 
ornamental  purposes  by  the  Chinese,  like  the  goldfish,  and 
its  beauty  is  sufiicient  to  entitle  it  to  such  a  distinction. 

In  form  these  fishes  somewhat  resemble  the  Centrachids, 
or  sunfishes,  of  our  streams  and  ponds.  They  differ  ex- 
tremely among  themselves  in  the  development  of  the  fins  j 
this  is  especially  the  case  with  respect  to  the  dorsal  or  back 
fin,  for  in  some  it  occupies  the  whole  length  of  the  back, 
while  in  others,  as  the  Pla  Kat,  it  is  confined  to  a  short 
space  near  the  middle  j  the  anal  and  ventral  fins  are  little 
less  variable,  but  it  would  lead  us  too  far  to  detail  such 
modifications. 

Characteristics.— The  gourami  may  be  said,  in  general 
terms,  to  somewhat  resemble  a  rock-bass  or  sunfish,  but 
having  a  smaller  head  and  a  still  smaller  mouth  compara- 
tively, a  very  long  anal  fin  reaching  from  the  breast  nearly 
to  the  base  of  the  caudal  fin,  and  the  ventral  fins  inserted 
nearly  on  a  line  with  the  pectoral,  the  first  soft  ray  being 
very  long,  lash-like,  and  almost  or  quite  equalling  the 
whole  length  of  the  fish.  There  are  from  eleven  to  thir- 
teen spines,  and  an  equal  number  of  soft,  jointed  rays  in 
the  dorsal  fin,  while  the  anal  has  from  nine  to  twelve 
spines,  and  from  nineteen  to  twenty-one  soft  rays ;  the  ven- 
tral fin  has  a  spine  and  five  rays,  the  first  of  which  is  the 


APPENDIX. 


253 


elongated  one  already  referred  to ;  the  others  are  short  and 
snmll.     The  color  of  the  old  is  a  nearly  uniform  dark  olive 
green  or  brown,  but  the  young  is  ornamented  by  seven  to 
nine  slightly  oblique  blackish  bands  crossing  the  body  •  at 
the  base  of  the  pectoral  fin  there  is  a  distinct  black  spot 
and  another  roundish  spot  exists  on  the  side  of  the  caudal 
peduncle  in  front  of  the  fin  and  abbve  the  lateral  line 
ihe  jaws  are  armed  with  a  band  of  fine  teeth;  the  roof 
of  the  mouth  is  smooth. 

The  gourami,  in  its  native  country,  has  always   been 
esteemed  for  the  delicacy  of  its  flesh,  and  Commerson.  the 
traveller,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  our  first  precise  de- 
scription  of  the  fish,  has  in  rapture  exclaimed  that  he  never 
tasted,  among  either  salt  or  fresh  water  fishes,  one  more  ex- 
quisite in  flavor  than  the  gourami-"  r^iM  inter  phccs  turn 
marinos  turn  fluviatiles  exquisitius  unquam  degmtavi"    In 
such  esteem  is  it  held,  that  the  Dutch  colonists  at  Batavia 
are  said  to  keep  them  in  very  large  earthen  jars,  removing, 
the  water  daily,  and  feeding  it  with  aquatic  plants  or  herbs'" 
and  especially  the  one  called  Pistia  natam,  a  species  be' 
longing  to  the  Aracese  or  Arum  family. 
^    In  a  state  of  freedom,  the  gourami  lives,  by  preference 
m  warm,  still,  or  stagnant  and  somewhat  muddy  waters     It 
It  very  sensitive  to  changes  of  temperature,  and  even  in 
the  island  of  Bourbon  retreats  in  the  winter  toward  the 
bottom  of  the  ponds  where  the  water  is  warmest,  and  bury- 
ing itself  in  the  mud,  if  present,  seems  to  remain  "in  a 
torpid  state  while  the  cold  lasts.     The  greatest  heat  appar- 
ently does  not  incommode  it,  and  in  summer  it  ascends  to 
the  surface  of  the  water,  basking  in  the  sun,  and,  often 
protruding  its  mouth  above  the  water,  swallows  the  atmo- 
spheric  air. 

While^  the  gourami  is  essentially  a  vegetarian,  and  its 
diet  .s^^dicated   by  the  extremely  elongated  intestinal 


£54 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


canal,  which  is  many  times  folded  on  itself,  it  does  not 
confine  itself  to  any  special  plants,  nor,  indeed,  to  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  for  its  sn.pply  of  food,  and  on  account  of  its 
miscellaneous  feeding  has  obtained  from  the  French  the 
epithet  of  water  pi(j,  or  Pore  des  rivieres.  Besides  the 
leaves  of  the  Pistia,  already  mentioned,  and  all  other 
species  of  araceae  which  it  seeks  with  avidity,  it  will  eat 
cabbage,  radish,  carrot,  turnip  and  beet  leaves,  lettuce,  and 
most  of  the  wild  plants  which  grow  in  the  water,  nor  does 
it  refuse  earth-worms,  frogs,  or  even  cooked  meats. 

In  its  movements,  the  gourami  is  usually  slow,  swimming 
leisurely  and  majestically  along,  and  takes  its  time  in  mak- 
ing its  meal ;  it  is,  however,  capable  of  rapid  movements, 
and  when  frightened  or  disturbed,  will  dart  away  with 
great  swiftness ;  when  first  confined  in  narrow  quarters,  it 
will  also  attempt  to  escape  by  leaping  out  of  the  water. 
It  will  take  the  hook  baitod  with  worms. 

In  its  sexual  relations,  and  the  care  which  it  takes  of  its 
eggs,  it  somewhat  resembles  the  sunfishes  of  temperate 
North  America  and  the  Cichlids  of  the  warmer  portions 
of  the  continent  and  of  Africa.  In  spawning-time,  the 
males  and  females  pair,  and  each  pair  select  a  suitable 
place  and  construct  a  rude  nest.  "  Like  all  intelligent 
animals,  it  will  only  propagate  when  it  is  insured  a  suitable 
temperature  for  its  eggs  and  young — a  fit  retreat  wherein 
to  build  its  nest,  with  vegetation  and  mud  to  make  h,  and 
the  aquatic  plants  suitable  for  the  food  oi  the  young.  The 
bottom  must  be  muddy,  and  the  depth  variable;  in  one 
place  at  least  a  yard,  or  metre,  and  convenient  to  it,  several 
metres  deep.  It  prefers  to  make  its  nest  in  tufts  of  the 
grass  called  Pdnicum  Jumentornm,  which  grow  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  and  whose  floating  roots,  which  rise  and 
fall  with  the  tide,  form  natural  galleries,  under  which  the 
fish  may  conceal   itself."     In  one  of  the  corners  of  the 


APPENDIX. 


255 


ponds,  among  the  plants  which  grow  there,  the  gourarai 
attaches  a  spherical  nest,  composed  of  plants  and  mud,  and 
resembling  in  form  those  of  certain  birds. 

Each   nest   is   about   fourteen    centimetres,  or  between 
five  and  six  inches  in  length;  the  male  and  female  labor 
assidously  in  its  construction,  and  continue  their  toils  till 
it  is  completed.     In  five  or  six  days,  or  a  week  at  furthest, 
it  is  finished.     This  aptitude  of  the  gourami  to  make  a 
nest  is  facilitated,  when  the  pairing-seasor  ha^s  arrived,  by 
placing  in  the  water,  almost  at  the  surface,  a  large  branch 
of  bamboo  (Bamhma  arundinacea,  Wild.),  to  which  are 
attached  bundles  of  fine  dog's-tooth  grass.     The  gouri.mi 
takes  this  grass  and  forms  with  it  its  nest  in  the  branches 
of  the  submerged  bamboo,  in  the  same  way  that  the  silk- 
worm avails  itself  of  the  branch  which  is  presented  for  it 
to   make  its  nest  on.     Toward  the  end  of  the  months  of 
September  and  of  March,  in  the  island  of  Bourbon,  propa- 
gation takes  place.    The  nest  made,  the  female  deposits  its 
eggs,  of  which  there  from  about  800  to  1000.     After  the 
eggs  have  been  depodted,  and  while  they  are  becoming 
matured,  the  parents   remain  near  the  nest,  prepared  to 
drive  away  intruders. 

The  eggs  are  soon  hatched,  and  the  young  then  find  in 
their  nest  "a  refuge  where  they  are  free  from  a  thousand 
dangers  which  would  threaten  them  for  the  first  days  of 
their  life.  Uesides,  they  find  in  the  macerated  vegetable 
matter,  which  partly  composes  tiieir  nest,  their  earliest 
food,  and  which  is  most  suitable  for  their  delicate  con- 
dition. Soon  afterwards  they  make  short  excursions  from 
the  nest  under  the  guidance  of  the  mother  fish,  who  ^r^  pre- 
pared to  give  them  aid  in  case  of  need.  They  do  not  dis- 
perse, but  keep  together  in  bands.  The  young  still  retain 
the  yelk-bags,  which  trail  behind  like  two  long  appendages 


256 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURR. 


I 


from  below  the  anterior  portion  of  the  belly,  and  seem  to 
assist  them  in  maintaining  their  equilibrium/' 

The  rate  of  growth  is  not  rapid,  and  at  the  age  of  three 
years,  the  fish  is  only  about  nine  inches,  or  twenty-two  cen- 
timetres, long ;  but  at  that  age  it  is  said  to  be  able  to  pro- 
pagate its  race.  Those  kept  in  vases  or  small  ponds  are 
still  slower  in  their  growth,  which  is  even  arrested  at  a 
comparatively  small  size.  The  small  fishes  are  most  es- 
teemed as  food.  Their  flesh,  it  may  be  added,  is  firm,  and 
of  a  pale  straw  or  yellowish  color. 

Attempts  to  acclimatize  the  ffouramt. — In  such  esteem 
has  this  Jsh  been  held  that  nom .  save  the  goldfish,  has 
been  the  subject  of  more  exertions  to  acclimatize  in  differ- 
ent countries,  and  if  we  literally  accept  the  word  exertion, 
even  the  goldfish  cannot  be  excepted,  for,  although  it  is 
true  that  that  species  has  been  more  generally  introduced 
into  foreign  waters,  little  or  no  exertion  seems  to  have 
been  necessary  to  eff'ect  that  object.  The  history  of  the 
attempts  and  success  in  the  acclimatization  of  the  gourami 
may  not  only  be  useful  with  reference  to  eventual  eff'orts 
to  introduce  it  into  the  United  States,  but  the  experience 
gained  may  bo  of  advantage  in  the  treatment  of  others.  A 
somewhat  extended  narrative,  compiled  from  the  writings 
of  Cuvier,  Rufz  de  Lavison,  Auguste  Vinson,  and  others, 
is  therefore  submitted. 

As  already  remarked,  the  gourami  is  now  found  in  south- 
ern China,  but  has  been  probably  introduced  into  that 
country,  although  the  date  and  circumstances  of  its  accli- 
matization are  unknown  to  us.  It  has  likewise  been  intro- 
duced into  some  of  the  islands  of  the  same  archipelago  and 
near  those  of  which  it  is  a  native.  IJut  the  history  of  its 
introduction  into  the  dominions  of  the  FriMjch  in  different 
quarters  of  the  world  is  better  known  and  of  greater  lu- 
te roust. 


I 


APPENDIX. 


257 


The  first  effort  on  the  part  of  the  French  of  which  we 
have  knowledge  was  made  in  1761,  when  several  nav.x  offi- 
cers-chief of  whom  were  Captains  De  SurviUe,  Joannis; 
and  De  Magny— took  some  fishes  to  the  Isle  of  France  or 
Mauritius,  but,  it  is  said,  rather  for  the  gratification  of  the 
sight  and  for  exhibition  in  vases  than  with  reference  to  its 
eventual  naturalization  in  the  island.     M.  De  C6v6,  who 
has  been  accredited  with    the  introduction  of  the  goldfish 
into  France,  and  who  was  at  the  time  mentioned  com- 
mander of  the  French  troops  in  the  island,  also  interested 
himself  in  the  introduction  of  the  species.     Individual  fish 
placed  in  ponds  propagated;  some  escaped  into  the  con- 
tiguous streams,  and  the  species  had  become  already  domi- 
c.hr.ted    in    the    island  when    Commerson,   the   naturalist 
traveller,  visited  it  in  1770. 

The  gourami  was  next  introduced  into  the  neighborino- 
island  of  Bourbon  or  Reunion  in  1795,  at  first  throu-h  the 
efforts  of  31.  Desmanieres,  a  resident  of  the  island,  an"d  who 
nnported  specimens  fro-i.  iMauritius  ;  but  his  example  was 
soon  followed  by  others.     His  experience  has  been  given 
by  Mr.  Vinson,  and,  on  account  of  its  important  bearin- 
on  the  subject  of  its  acclimatization  in  <»ther  lands,  is  re"^ 
peated  in  his  own  words.     M.  Desmani^Mcs  had,  "on  his 
estate  of  IJellevue,  situated  on  the  upland  of  the  quarter 
Samte-Suzanne,  a  magnificent  natural  body  of  water  with 
two   islets  abouuding  in   a(iuatic  plants.      Evorythin.^  -.p 
pearod  to  be  propitious  for  the  raising  of  the  gourami^  but 
the  low  temperature  of  this  part  of  the  island  had  not  been 
taken  into   consideration.     The  fishes  lived,   but  did  not 
propagate.     M.  Desmanieres  at  first  thought  that  the  lar-e 
size  of  the  pond  might  be  the  cause  of  this,  and  ho  had 
made  two  vivaria,  which  may  yet  be  seen,  and  which  were 
supplied  by  the  large  pond.     In  these  vivaria  the  ifourumis 
were  placed,  but  th(^  result  was  no  more  fortunate      Ho 


258 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


received  from  the  Isle  of  France  additional  fishes,  but  still 
had  no  succes3.  Finally,  having  transferred  his  fishes  into 
a  vivarium  near  the  seashore,  he  succeeded  in  inducing 
propagation.  This  experiment  had,  however,  taken  thirty 
years,  and  during  this  time,  success  in  propagating  the 
species  in  the  island  had  become  despaired  of.  As  has 
been  seen,  acclimatization  often  depends  on  causes  very 
simple  in  appearance,  but  which  are  only  discovered  after 
a  long  time.  Since  the  period  named,  the  fish  has  been 
widely  spread  through  the  island,"  and  is  now  abundant. 

The  next  earnest  attempt  to  introduce  the  species  into  a 
distant  country  was  made  at  the  instance  of  M.  Moreau  de 
Jonnes,  who,  in  1818,  induced  the  "  minister  of  marine" 
of  France  to  order  the  transportation  of  specimens  to  the 
French  possessions  in  the  West  Indies.  Accordingly,  in 
April,  1819,  a  hundred  small  fishes  were  intrusted  to  the 
care  of  M.  De  Mackau,  captain  r^a  store-ship — JjC  Golo — 
and  the  interest  and  zealour  c  >■  nifested  by  that  officer 
were  rewarded  by  the  comparatively  slight  loss  of  only 
twenty-three  fishes  during  the  entire  voyage  to  the  West 
Indies  ;  and  when  it  is  recalled  that  a  slight  blow,  an  ubra- 
Hion  of  the  sides,  or  loss  of  a  scale  may  ^^ausc  death,  and  the 
difficulty  of  adjusting  the  supply  of  fresh  water,  kc,  to 
their  necesHitief*  is  tjiken  into  consideration,  the  small  per- 
centage of  the  lost  must  be  considered  as  remarkable. 
Of  the  8eventy-«even  which  remained  alive,  twenty-six 
wet*  distributed  Wj  the  islands  of  Martinique  and  Guade- 
loupe sev«n-ully,  audi  twenty-five  to  the  colony  of  Cayenne. 
The  fortunes  of  the  strangers  in  their  new  places  of  abode 
were  various.  Cuvier  and  Valenciennes,  in  the  seventh 
volume  of  their  "  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Poissons,"  pub- 
lished in  1881,  acknowledge  the  reception  of  one  of  the 
fishes  originally  taken  from  Isle-de-France  to  Cayenne. 
The  belief  that  their  acclimatization  in  America  had  sue- 


11 


APPENDIX. 


259 


in 


ceeded  has  even  found  utterance  in  the  statement  as  a  fact 
which  has  obtained  currency  in  several  publications  Al- 
though the  fishes  introa.ced  conUnued  to  live,  none  seemed 
to  be  fruitful  m  their  new  quarters,  and  there  is  no  pub- 
ished  evidence  that  any  individuals  of  the  species  are  now 
living  in  America.  We  have  the  fullest  and  most  authen- 
tic  details  concerning  its  fate  in  Martinique. 

The  little  fishes,  on  their  arrival  at  Martinique,  were 
placed  in  a  large  basin  of  fresh  water;  the  largest  of  them 
was  only  about  three  French  inches  long.     Some  months 
after,  they  were  transferred  to  a  small  pond  in  the  botanic 
garden  of  Saint  Pierre;  all  were  still  alive  and  healthy 
arid  had  attained  a  length  of  from  ten  to  twelve  .'nches^ 
Iheir  subsequent  increase  was,  however,  much  less  rapid 
and   nearly  six  years  were  required   to  little  more  than 
double  thai,  length,  for  in  1827  the  largest  had  only  gain.d 
a  length  of  from  twenty-four  to  twenty^seven  inches.     The 
subsequent  rate  of  increase  was  still  less  rapid,  as  mi.^ht 
naturally  be  supposed ;  and  the  last  survivor  of  the  original 
twenty-six,  which  was  served  on  the  table  in  1846,  twenty- 
seven  years  after  its  arrival  at  Martinique,  measured  about 
a   metre  or  somewhat   more    than    thirty-nine   inches    in 
length.     None  of  these  fishes  had  been  able  to  propa-ute 
their  race  in  the  island  during  all  this  time.     Five  years 
after  their  introduction,  a  formal  announcement  was,  in- 
deed,  made  that  numerous  young  gourami  had  made  tlieir 
appearance  in  two  broods,  at  intervals  of  only  six  months 
but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  supposed  young  gourami 
were  native  fishes  that  had  gained  entrance  into  the  pre- 
serves of  the.gourami.     The  sudden  revulsion  from  ^l,, 
Mm    uk^  high  expectations  to  which  the  appare.it  sn  ,  .sh 
h^.d^;.ven  rise,  to  chagnn  and  despair,  unhappily  re.cted 
on  the  poor  fishes,  and  was  doubtless  enhanced  by  the  ridi- 
cule  which  the  exposure  of  the  nature  of  the  discovery 


260 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


I  1 


t 


entailed  on  the  historian  of  that  discovery,  and  which  en- 
gendered a  proverbial  expression  in  the  island.  The  pros- 
pect of  propagating  the  gourami  appearing  hopeless,  one 
after  another  was  caught  and  served  up  on  the  table  of  the 
governor  when  a  distinguished  guest  was  to  be  entertained, 
and  thus  was  the  last  disposed  of  in  1846.  Although 
equally  full  details  have  not  been  published  concerning 
those  introduced  into  Guadeloupe  and  Cayenne,  no  greater 
success  appears  to  have  rewarded  the  attempts  to  propa- 
gate the  species.  As  to  the  latter,  it  has  recently  been 
stated  that  tl  e  fish  known  as  connani  is  the  same  as  the 
fTourami,  and  occurs  abundantly  in  the  rivers  of  Guiana, 
but  the  connani  is  evidently  an  entirely  different  fish,  and 
even  a  member  of  a  very  distinct  family. 

RepvH^'-id  attempts  have  been  made  in  recent  years  to 
introduce  the  gourami  into  France,  Algiers,  and  Egypt, 
but  the  fishes  have  either  died  on  their  way  to  their  re- 
spective destinations,  or  have  survived  for  but  a  short  time 
their  introduction  into  the  new  waters ;  a  sudden  diminu- 
tion of  the  temperature  has  proved  disastrous  in  its  results 
to  them,  and  the  greatest  care  and  precaution  are  necessary 
to  protect  thom  from  the  changes  of  the  weather.  The 
last  attempt  to  introduce  the  gourami  into  France  which 
has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  compiler  was  made  in 
the  ppiing  of  1865.  Nineteen  young  fishes,  in  a  glass 
vase,  were  consigned  to  the  steamer  running  betweeq 
Mauritius  and  Suez,  which  left  the  former  place  on  the 
20th  of  March.  All  survived  the  perils  of  the  voyage  as 
far  as  Alexandria;  but  on  the  route  from  that  place  to 
Marseilles,  where  a  comparatively  low  and  unequal  tem- 
perature prevailed,  eight  of  them  died.  Of  the  eleven  that 
arrived  in  safety,  one  other  died  the  following  night;  but 
the  fate  of  the  rest  has  not  been  recorded  in  the  PVench 
periodicals  yet  received  at  Washington. 


1, 


APPENDIX. 


261 


Eleven  young  gouramis  were  also  safely  transported,  in 
the  autumn  of  1864,  from  the  island  of  Mauritius  to  Al- 
geria, but  their  fate  is  likewise  unknown.  Attempts  have 
been  made  to  introduce  the  species  into  Egypt ;  but  the 
results,  so  far  as  known,  have  not  proved  favorable. 

The  interest  excited  in  the  gourami,  and  the  attempts  to 
acclimijtize  it,  have  not  been  confined  to  the  French.    The 
English  settlers  of  Australia  and  Tasmania  have  endeavored 
to  introduce  the  species  into  their  waters,  and  individuals 
have  survived  the  voyage  to  those  distant  countries.     At 
Victoria,  Melbourne,  and  Hobartstown,  there  are  acclima- 
tization societies  which  have  undertaken  the  introduction, 
into  their  respective  districts,  of  desirable  plants  and  ani- 
mals ;  and  of  the  fishes,  the  gourami  has  been  one  of  the 
most  sought  for.     Individuals  of  that  species  were  secured 
for  Victoria,  through  the  exertions  of  a  merchant  of  the  " 
town,  but  the  history  of  the  undertaking  is  unknown.     At 
Melbourne,  after  unsuccessful  efforts,  the  Society  of  Accli- 
matization finally  received,  from  Mauritius,  eighteen  living 
fish,  out  of  a  total  of  thirty  that  were  embarked  for  that 
place.     No  accessible  record  exists  of  its  introduction  into 
Tasmania. 

The  impracticohlh'Uj  of  naturaUzing  it  in  cold  countries. 
—Such  is  the  hist^^ry  of  ;1  more  prominent  attempts  to 
introduce  the  gourami  into  foreign  waters.  The  narrati-e 
will  readily  demonstrate  that  its  acclimatization  in  even 
warm  temperate  countries  is  by  no  mQmm  easy ;  aad  the 
natural  inference,  resulting  from  a  study  of  the  fate  <tf 
those  efforts,  is  that  it  will  be  useless  to  ttttempt  its  domi- 
ciliation in  countries  where  the  temperature  in  winter  is 
sufficiently  low  to  allow  ice  to  form  on  the  streams.  If, 
therefore,  it  is  desired  to  introduce  the  fish  in  the  Ameri- 
can waters,  the  attempt  must  be  made  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  in  warm  or  protected  pools  or  ponds.     It  will 


262 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


be  doubtful  whether  it  can  be  propagated  even  there  at 
first,  and  the  habits  of  the  species  must  be  still  more  closely 
studied  in  order  to  ascertain  why  it  should  have  proven 
sterile  in  the  West  Indian  islands  and  Cayenne.     It  cannot 
have  been  on  account  of  want  of  suflficient  heat,  for  the 
mean  temperature  is  not  very  different  from  that  of  Mauri- 
tius; nor  can  it  be  due  to  the  difference  in  time  of  the  sea- 
sons, for  the  species  has  been  successfully  acclimatized  in 
China,  which  is  north  of  the  tropics,  as  well  as  in  Mauri- 
tius and  Reunion.     The  cause  of  sterility  is,  therefore,  at 
present  inexplicable  j  but  when  it  is  known,  it  may  perhaps 
be  counteracted.     It  would  appear  to  be  extremely  doubt- 
ful whether  the  species  can  be  introduced  and  reared  in 
France ;  but  yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  so  eminently 
experienced  and  scientific  a  man  as  M.  Coste,  the  acade- 
'  mician,  has  pronounced  the  opinion  that  it  can  be  effected, 
and  he  has  published  instructions  to  guide  those  to  whom 
carriage  of  specimens  may  be  intrusted.     Possibly  by  per- 
sistence of  effort,  and  by  selection  of  hardy  individuals  for 
stock,  success  may  eventually  be  attained ;  and  if  such  can 
be  had  for  France,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  like 
fortune  should  not  be  expected  in  the  United  States,  as  far 
north    as   the   latitude  of  Virginia.     Doubtless,  the   fish 
would  be  a  very  valuable  acquisition  if  it  could  be  reared, 
and  the  more  so  as  it  is  herbivorous,  while  the  most  es- 
teemed fishes,  found  in  the  more  temperate  regions  of  the 
United  States,  are  more  or  less  carnivorous. 

Rules  for  transportation  and  introduction. — As  to  the 
introduction,  it  would,  probably,  be  more  readily  effected  by 
the  transportation  of  nests  with  the  ova,  than  by  that  of 
the  fishes  themselves,  and  such  a  course  would  at  least  re- 
quire less  care  and  attention,  and  would  have  the  additional 
advantage  of  furnishing  so  many  more  individuals  to  select 


APPENDIX. 


263 


from.  If,  for  any  reasons,  it  is  preferred  to  experiment 
with  the  young,  the  smallest  should  be  chosen,  and  they 
should  be  placed  in  wooden  or  earthenware  vessels ;  the 
latter  would  be  preferable,  and  those  having  a  capacity  of 
from  ten  to  fifteen  gallons  would  perhaps  be  best,  but  tubs 
or  casks,  when  perfectly  clean,  may  be  used.  The  recep- 
tacle, whatever  it  may  be,  should  be  suspended,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  disturbance  of  its  contents  by  the  incessant  roll- 
ing of  the  vessel,  such  motion  being  prejudicial  to  the 
welfare  of  the  fishes.  The  fishes  shovld  also  be  fed,  and  a 
supply  of  suitable  plants  should,  therefore,  accompany 
them.  I  may  conclude  with  a  translation  of  the  specific 
instructions  of  M.  Coste,  from  whom,  indeed,  T  have  de- 
rived the  hints  above  offered  :— 

"1.  Very  young  fishes  should  be  selected. 

"  2.  These  fishet  should  be  distributed  among  several 
receptacles. 

"  3.  Care  should  "je  taken  not  to  crowd  too  many  together 
in  one  receptacle. 

"  4.  The  water  should  be  renewed  partially  or  entirely 
whenever  it  becomes  necessary 

"  5.  It  should  also  be  aerated  from  time  to  time. 

"  6.  The  fishes  should  be  fed  whenever  they  shall  seem 
to  require  it. 

"  7.  The  remains  from  the  food  which  has  been  given  to 
the  fishes  should  be  carefully  taken  up  from  the  bottom  of 
the  receptacle,  and  removed  within  eight  hours  after  feed- 
ing; the  dejections  and  other  impurities  which  would  in- 
jure the  water  should  also  be  removed. 

"  8.  Finally,  the  several  receptacles  should  be  kept  in 
different  places,  and  under  various  conditions." 


.cdBfl^  ^tieS,'i^.i'. 


264 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


VII. 

COLD  SPRING  TROUT-PONDS.  v 

The  following  account  of  these  ponds,  and  matters  con- 
nected with  them,  has  been  written  out  by  the  pi'oprietor, 
Rev.  Livingston  Stone,  at  my  own  request,  for  this  book. 
It  was  not  until  I  had  completed  the  chapters  on  trout- 
breeding,  that  I  received   any  communication   from   Mr. 
Stone.      Having  occasion  co  write  him  in  regard  to  the 
salmon  ova  placed  under  his  charge  by  the  New  Hampshire 
Fish  Commission,  I  found  from  his  letters  in  reply,  that 
his  establishment  was  more  extensive,  and  embraced  the 
cultivation  of  a  greater  variety,  than  I  had  supposed.     It 
will  be  seen  that  he  fully  endorses  in  its  many  bearings,  all 
that  I  have  said  as  to  the  importance  of  fish  culture.     His 
remarks  on  the  necessity,  when  one  rears  them  in  large 
numbers,  of  having  young  trout  in  a  defined  space  where 
they  can  be  fed  and  attended  to,  in  substance,  correspond 
with  the  directions  I  have  given.     Though  neither  of  us 
was    aware  of  the  other  having  engaged  in  this  line  of 
business,  we  have  from  similar  experience  and  experiments, 
arrived   at  the  same  conclusions   on  the   most  important 
points  connected  with  it.     Mr.  Stone's  rearing-box,  a  model 
of  which  he  sent  me  a  few  weeks  since,  is  the  most  complete 
contrivance  of  the  kind  I  have  seen,  and  is  particularly 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  those  who  wish  to  raise  a   few 
thousand  young  trout.     With  the  accompanying  directions, 
the  proper   requisites,  and  with   ordinary  care,  one   can 
scarcely  go  wrong. 


APPENDIX. 


265 


The  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  are  situated  in  Charles- 
town,  N.   H.,  which  is. a  town  on  the  Connecticut  river 
about  40  miles   north  of  the    Massachusetts    line       The 
ponds  and  hatching-works  are  built  on  two  streams    the 
smaller  of  which,  with  a  hatching  capacity  of  about  five 
millions,  IS  used  chiefly  for  hatching  purposes.      On  the 
arger  stream  are  the  spawning-beds  and  the  ponds  for  the 
.reeding  trout.     The  hatching-houses  are  located  at  the 
head  of  the  smaller  stream,  just  where  the  springs  issue 
from  the  ground.     The  springs  are  peculiarly  well  adapted 
to  their  purpose,  being  very  large  and  of  even  temperature 
standing    at   about   47°    Fahrenheit    from   the    first    of 
December  to  the  first  of  May.     As  is  the  case  with  other 
springs  running  at  a  considerable  depth  below  the  surface 
they  are  a  trifle  warmer  on  the  first  of  December  than  on 
the  first  of  May.      The  success  which  has  been  met  with 
in  these  hatching-works  is  of  the  most  encouraging  kind 
In  some  of  the  most  favorably  situated  boxes,  containing 
trout  spawn,  the  loss  was  almost  nothing,  hardly  three  per 
cent.,  while  in  the  salmon   beds  it  was  even  less,  being 
under  one  per  cent. 

The  whole  amount  hatched  this  season  was  between  one 
hundred   and  fifty  thousand,  and  two 'hundred  thousand 
trout,  and  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  the  impregnated  salmon 
eggs  deposited  here  by  the  New  Hampshire  Commission- 
ers.     The  water,  however,  on  this  stream  is  rather  too  cold 
for  growing  trout  well,  so  after  they  are  hatched  and  be-in 
to  feed,  they  are  taken  down  to  the  larger  stream,  also  fed 
by  perennial  springs,  but  warmer  in  the  summer,  where 
they  are  kept  in  rearing-boxes  until  winter.     There  is  now 
a  large  stock  of  breeders  on  this  stream,  which  will  be 
increased  by  the  next  spawning  season  to  thirty  thousand 
some  of  them  varying  from  a  half  a  pound  in  weight,  to  a 


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266 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


pound  and  upwards.    It  is  expected  that  a  very  large  supply 
of  spawn  will  be  taken  from  them  this  fall. 

There  is  connected  with  the  Cold  Spring  Ponds,  a  farm 
of  five  hundred  or  six  hundred  acres,  situate  on  a  spur  of 
Monadnock  Mountain,  sixteen  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  Through  this  farm,  runs  one  of  the  finest 
streams  for  growing  trout  that  can  be  found  in  New  England. 
It  is  the  outlet  of  Monadnock  Lake ;  famous  for  the  extra- 
ordinary clearness  of  its  waters,  and  the  superior  size  and 
quality  of  its  trout,  and  not  being  exposed  to  freshets,  but 
supplied  wholly  by  springs,  it  never  rises  nor  falls  the  year 
round.  This  last  circumstance  makes  the  stream  a  safe 
one  for  trout  growing,  while  its  great  size  makes  it  capable 
of  sustaining  an  almost  unlimited  stock  of  fish.  The 
object  of  having  this  place  connected  with  the  Cold  Spring 
Ponds  at  Charlestown,  is  to  try  the  experiment  on  a  large 
scale  of  raising  trout  as  an  article  of  food.  All  the  condi- 
tions here  are  favorable  to  the  experiment,  and  no  pai>is 
will  be  spared  to  give  it  a  fair  trial.  If  trout  cannot  be 
raised  here  successfully  on  a  large  scale,  it  seems  safe  to 
say  that  they  cannot  be  raised  anywhere  successfully. 
There  is  a  small  stock  of  fifty  thousand  trout  on  the  stream 
at  present,  which  it  is  hoped  will  be  increased  by  an  addi- 
tion each  spring  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  and  upwards. 
They  will  be  kept  till  the  first  of  December  in  learing- 
boxcs,  when  they  will  be  transferred  to  ponds  built  for 
them.  More  than  usual  interest  is  felt  in  this  branch  of 
the  establishment,  from  the  fact  that  no  attempt  to  raise 
trout  in  large  numbers  from  the  eggs,  has  ever  yet  suc- 
ceeded. Here  let  us  say  a  word  about  the  use  of  a  rearing- 
box  in  growing  trout.  It  is  the  firm  conviction  of  the 
writer,  that  a  rea.ing-box  is  indispensable  to  the  culture 
of  trout  in  largo  numbers.  As  all  know,  who  have  had 
any  experience  in  raising  trout— •  when  the  young  fry  are 


APPENDIX. 


2'^7 


thrown  promiscuously  into  a  pond,  there  is  an  inexplicabio 
but  constant  waste  going  on  all  the  time,  and  the  greater 
the  number  of  fish,  compared  with  the  size  of  the  pond, 
the  greater  the  waste  becomes.  Then,  again,  the  streams 
which  are  generally  used  for  growing  trout  are  too  small 
to  supply  natural  food  to  any  large  number  of  fish,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  ponds  built  on  them,  are  too  large  to 
allow  of  systematic  artificial  feeding.  The  consequence  is 
that  the  young  trout  above  a  certain  numerical  limit  die 
of  starvation.  It  is  therefore  very  desirable — indispensable 
we  may  say — to  confine  them  where  the  waste  just  men- 
tioned may  be  prevented  or  at  least  observed  and  accounted 
for,  and  where  they  can  be  held  well  in  hand,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  artificial  feeding.  It  is  with  these  objects  in  view 
that  the  rearing-box  is  construcled,  and  it  is  thought  that 
it  will  revolutionize  the  system  of  trout  raising,  as  from 
60  to  80  per  cent,  of  young  fry  can  now  be  raised,  even 
when  millions  are  experimented  with,  while  by  the  old 
method  of  pond  growing,  it  was  difficult  to  rear  any  con- 
siderable percentage  in  so  limited  a  number  even  as  ten 
thousand.  The  rearing-box  now  in  u?e  at  the  Cold  Spring 
Ponds,  seems  to  combine  all  the  requisite  points,  and  is 
recommended  to  all,  who  prefer  to  adopt  this  method  of 
rearing  trout  or  salmon. 

Another  branch  of  the  Cold  Spring  Ponds  is  the  black 
bass  department.  The  stock  of  black  bass  breeders  at  the 
ponds  is  nut  extensive,  but  large  numbers  of  this  fish  have 
been  caught,  and  are  now  confined  in  ponds  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  and  in  the  northern  part  of  Vermont,  for 
use  during  the  spawning  season,  which  contrary  to  the 
usual  statements  in  books,  is  for  that  latitude,  during  the 
month  of  June,  instead  of  April  and  May.*     From  these 


*In  tlic  chnptcr  on  naturnlization,  I  mentioned  tlic?  sixo  of  basa 
at  a  year  old  in  u  poiui  near  Newburgh,  and  rcnuirked  ulso  that  I 


268 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Bpawners  a  large  number  of  ova  will  be  taken,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  beds  at  Charlestown  to  be  hatched ;  but  as 
bass  hatching  has  not  yet  been  reduced  to  a  science  like 
trout  and  salmon  hatching,  no  such  results  are  expected  as 
have  been  obtained  with  these  latter  named  fisii.  The 
hatching-beds  for  the  bass  are  built  on  the  lower  stream 
of  the  Cold  Spring  Ponds,  the  other  being  too  cold  in  the 
summer  to  answer  the  purpose. 

There  is  still  another  branch  of  this  fish-breeding  estab- 
lishment, and  without  doubt  the  most  important  one,  viz, ; 
the  salmon  breeding  ponds  on  the  Miramichi  river  in  New 
Brunswick.  Here  a  salmon  fishery  has  been  secured,  and 
everything  put  under  way,  for  carrying  on  large  salmon- 
breeding  works,  on  the  same  principle  but  on  a  larger  scale 
as  the  trout-breeding  ponds  at  Charlestown.  A  large 
quantity  of  salmon  ova  and  young  salmon  will  be  taken 
here  this  fall,  and  it  is  hoped  that  those  who  arc  interested 
in  restocking  the  American  rivers  with  salmon,  will  not  be 
slow  to  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  of  obtaining 
the  ova  or  young  fish. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  see  the  daily  increasing  interest 
in  the  community,  in  having  our  barren  and  profitless 
streams  and  ponds  replenished  with  fish.  People  seem  to 
be  waking  up  to  a  sense  of  the  value  of  water,  as  a  food- 
producing  agent,  and  all  are  beginning  to  understand,  that 
in  our  lakes  and  rivers  are  to  be  found  a  source  of  revenue 
too  promising  to  be  neglected.     Indeed  a  fish-raising  fever 


saw  numoroTis  fry  of  this  season  near  the  margin  of  the  pond.  These 
young  lish  were  not  less  than  an  inch  long  on  the  12th  of  June,  and 
consc(iuently  must  have  come  from  spawn  deposited  the  latter  part 
of  April  or  in  May.  I  do  not  mention  this  fact  in  opposition  to  the 
rfhovo  remark,  that  bass  spawn  t.i  June  in  New  Hampshire ;  a  few 
degrees  of  latitude  will  make  a  great  difference  in  the  time  of  lish 
that  spawn  in  the  spring  or  early  summer. — T.  N. 


APPENDIX. 


269 


is  springing  up  in  this  oountry,  and  people  are  as  eager  to 
procure  fish  to  rear,  as  ever  they  were  to  obtain  fancy  stock 
in  sheep,  or  horses,  or  poultry.  This  fever  will  have  its 
rise,  culmination  and  decline  without  doubt  like  others 
similar,  but  unless  the  signs  of  the  present  are  very  delu- 
sive, its  results  will  be  of  a  vastly  more  important  and  sub- 
stantial. 

Suppose  for  instance  that  the  original  conditions  favor- 
able to  tlie  existence  of  salmon  and  shad,  were  restored  in 
a  river  like  the  Hudson.  Who  can  estimate  the  immense 
.value  which  that  river  would  assume  in  three  or  four  years  ? 
Millions  of  dollars  would  hardly  buy  the  millions  of  fish 
that  could  be  taken  from  its  waters. 

There  is  nothing  to  prevent  these  original  conditions* 
being  restored  in  many  at  least  of  our  rivers.  The  food  of 
the  salmon  and  shad  L  ound  in  the  sea.  Here  they  get 
their  growth  and  vigor,  and  until  the  illimitable  stores  of 
the  sea  begin  to  fail  in  their  supply  of  food,  there  will  exist 
no  necessary  obstacles  to  the  restoration  of  their  former 
fruitfulness  to  our  great  rivers.  It  is  the  same  in  our  lakes 
and  ponds.  Where  a  mere  bagatelle  of  sunfish,  and  pouts,* 
and  small  perch  are  now  caught,  thousands  of  dollars  worth 
of  black  bass  might  be  reared.  It  is  hoped  that  all  who 
have  the  time  and  opportunity  will  spare  no  pains  to  do 
their  part  in  replenishing  the  waters  which  lie  within  their 
'reach.  The  fi^h-raising  fever  may  have  a  similar  run  to 
many  others,  but  it  is  one  which  every  one  should  encour- 
age, inasmuch  as  in  its  consequences,  it  will  react  in  the 
most  beneficial  manner  upon  all  members  of  the  community, 
both  rich  and  poor,  but  especially  upon  the  poor. 

The  great  desideratum  which  is  now  sought,  is,  to  brino- 
fish  culture  out  of  the  province  of  mere  fancy  work,  where 


*  Catfish. 


23 


270 


AMERICAN  PISH  CULTURE. 


'I 


I 


it  is  only  the  amusement  and  recreation  of  a  few  wealthy 
men,  and  to  make  it  an  every-day  practical  thing  with  every 
one  who  has  the  water  facilities  for  engaging  in  it.  What 
we  want,  is,  to  have  poor  men  earn  their  living  or  a  part 
of  their  living  by  fish  culture.  If  this  end  can  be  reached, 
then  the  new  fish-raising  movement,  is  worthy  the  attention 
and  encouragement  of  every  public-spirited  man. 

All  that  is  needed  to  effect  this  end,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  writer,  is,  care,  study,  and  perseverance  in  the  work. 
Nature  supplies,  in  the  countless  numbers  of  ova  in  fish, 
boundless  resources  to  start  from.     All  that  man  has  to  do, 
is  to  provide  the  conditions  requisite  Id  avail  himself  of 
nature's  vast  supplies.     It  seems  as  if  he  might  do  this,  as 
yet  no  insuperable  obstacle  has  presented  itself.     Every- 
thing conspires  to  confirm  the  most  ardent  faith  in  favora- 
ble results.     Let  every  one  who  is  interested  in  this  move- 
ment give  what  time  and  effort  he  can  spare,  and  in  less 
time  than  we  suppose,  a  complete  revolution  may  be  effected 
in  our  American  waters,  and  our  barren  rivers  and  profit- 
less ponds  be  made  the  repositories  of  great  wealth. 
•     The    Salmon  for  the    Connecticut  River. — The  salmon 
spawn  sent  to  the  Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds  by  the  N.  H. 
Commissioners  in  the  fall  of  1867  to  be  hatched  for  the 
Connecticut  river,  arrived  at  their  destination  on  the  even- 
ing  of  the  22d  of  November^     They  were  taken  in  the 
Miramichi  river,  on  the  10th,  18th  and  22d  of  October,  by 
Dr.  Fletcher,  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  by  whom  they  were  care- 
fully packed  in  wet  moss,  enclosed  in  champagne  baskets. 
On  their  arrival  at  Charlestown  they  w^re  unpacked   as 
speedily  as  possible,  and  .after  being  thoroughly  separated 
from  the  m^oss,  were  deposited  in  the  hatching-beds  pre- 
pared for  them.     Large,  round,  plump,  and  of  a  beautiful 
salmon  color,  they  looked  very  prettily  resting  on  the  clean 
gravel,  in  the  clear  running  water.     But  a  more  gratifying 


APPENDIX. 


271 


Bight  still,  was  the  egg  by  itself,  when  held  up  to  the  light 
and  examined;  for  there  within  the  thin  transparent  shell, 
could  be  seen  the  curled  body  of  the  young  embryo,  and 
the  two  distinct  black  specks  which  were  to  be  its  'eyes. 
It  turned  out,  however,  that  only  about  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  ova  were  impregnated.     This,  however,  experience 
has  shown  to  be  as  large  a  percentage  as  could  be  expected 
from  fish  caught  with  a  spear,  as  Dr.  Fletcher  was  obliged 
to  take  them.     The  unimpregnated  eggs  gradually  became 
opaque  and  were  removed  from  the  beds,  although  some 
remained  unturned  long  after  the  good  eggs  were  hatched, 
and  could  be  clearly  seen  then,  as  all  along  previously,  to 
be  perfectly  empty.     The  impregnated  eggs  did  remarkably 
well;  almost  all  of  them  lived,  and  hatched  considerably 
over  ninety-nine   per  cent.     The  newly  hatched  salmon 
were  very  lively,  and   the  loss  by  death,  while  the  yolk 
sac  remained,  was  very  small,  even  less  than  when  in  the 
egg  state.     After  the  sac  disappeared  there  was  a  sli<rht 
mortality  among  the  young  fish  for  a  few  days.      Since 
then  they  have  been  very  healthy,  and  are  now  doing  finely. 
They  were  transferred,  a  short  time  after  becoming  fully 
formed  fish,  from  the  hatching-beds  to  the  rearing-box  of 
the  Cold  Spring  Ponds,  where  they  are  still  kept. 

It  is  the  plan  of  the  commissioners  to  have  them  retained 
and  reared  artificially,  until  they  are  ready  to  go  to  the  sea 
which  will  be  next  spring  for  one-half  of  them,  and  the 
succeeding  spring  for  the  other  half. 

The  number  which  was  obtained  this  year  for  the  Con- 
necticut  river,  is  .wholly  inadequate  to  the  requirements  of 
a  river  of  such  magnitude,  and  the  movement  made  this 
year  for  stocking  it  with  salmon,  is  to  be  regarded  as 
experimental  merely.  The  few  thousand  smolts  that  come 
from  this  batch  of  egg,s  will  hardly  be  heard  from  again 
in  so  large  a  river,  but  it  is  hoped  that  hereafter  when  the 


272 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


plans  for  the  purpose  become  moro  matured,  the  young 
salmon  will  be  put  in  the  river  by  the  hundred  thousand 
instead  of  by  the  thousand.  Then  we  shall  without  doubt 
have  returns,  which  well  correspond  in  some  more  adequate 
measure  to  the  great  opportunities  which  are  presented  to 


* 


us. 


VIII. 

CLOVE  SPRING  TROUT  PONDS. 

Mr.  Christie  takes  his  supply  from  two  springs  of  unvary- 
ing temperature,  discharging  seven  hundred  gallons  a 
minute.  They  are  situated  on  the  brow  of  a  pretty  hill, 
shaded  by  fine  old  oaks  and  wide-spreading  sugar  maples, 
about  twenty-five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  meadow  below. 
Although  flowing  through  strata  of  limestone,  the  water  is 
of  the  kind  termed  '*  soft."  Before  the  door  of  the  dwell- 
ing-house he  is  erecting  in  the  grove,  and  on  the  slope  of 
the  hill,  stretch  the  two  larger  ponds  parallel  with  each 
other,  and  divided  by  embankments  ten  feet  wide.  The 
upper,  which  he  calls  pond  No.  2,  is  about  two  hundred  r.ud 
twenty-five  feet  long  by  twenty  wide,  the  depth  averaging 
something  over  four  feet.  The  lower,  which  is  pond  No.  3, 
is  of  the  same  length,  thirty  feet  wide,  and  varying  in  depth 
from  five  to  twelve  feet.  Each  pond  has  an  outlet  in  the 
bottom  to  draw  it  ofi",  should  it  be  necessary  to  do  so  at  any 
future  time. 

*  A  short  time  after  the  salmon  began  to  be  hatched  at  the  Cold 
Spring  Ponds,  they  received  a  visit  from  Theodore  Lyman,  Esq  , 
the  secretary  of  the  New  England  commissioners,  who  carried  spe- 
cimens of  the  embryos  of  both  eggs  and  young  fry  to  Prof.  Agassiz, 
by  wliom  very  accurate  drawings  were  taken  of  tlic  embryos  in  dif- 
ferent stages  of  development.  Tlie  eggs  and  young  fsh  themselves 
were  preserved  in  alcohol,  and  can  now  be  seen  on  the  shelves  of 
the  Museum  of  Coiiipurative  Zoology  at  Cambridge. 


APPENDIX. 


273 


The  smaller  of  the  two  springs  which  is  five  feet  higher 
up  the  hill  than  the  larger,  is  led  off  to  one  side  to  supplv 
the  hatchmg-house  and  nursery.     After  which  the  water 
unites  with  that  from  the  large  spring,  and  flows  through 
two  rearing-races  into  pond  No.  1,  and  then  through  spawn- 
mg-races  into  ponds  No.  2  and  No.  3.   .The  young  trout 
are  kept  from  the  time  they  leave  the  nursery  and  rearing- 
races  until  they  are  ahout  twenty-one  months  old  in  pond 
No.  1.     After  this  age  they  are  to  occupy  pond  No  2  for 
a  year,  and  then  pond  No.  3,  from  which  they  are  to  be 
taken  for  market. 

The  hatching-house,  forty-four  feet  long  and  sixteen  feet 
wide  occupies,  in  part,  an  excavation  made  in  the  side  of 
the  hill,  and  extends  out  on  a  sloping  lawn. 

The  fall  from  the  upper  spring  is  suflScient  to  allow  of 
the  hatching-troughs  being  elevated  three  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  floor.    Thereby  saving  a  great  deal  of  laborious 
stooping   during  the   hatching-season.      The  nurseries  or 
reanng-troughs  are  also  elevated,  and  discharge  by  minia- 
ture  fish-ways  into  the  rearing-races  supplying  pond  No  1 
which  extends  on  the  lawn  between  the  hatching-house  and 
No.  ^      The  hatching-house  is  planned  for  eight  troughs 
each  thirty-two  feet  long,  in  case  he  should  require  as  many 
Each  trough    being  divided  into  twenty  nests,  and  each 
nest  holding  four  or  five  thousand  eggs,  he  will  be  able,  if 
he  should  find  sale  for  them,  to  lay  down  from  six  to  eight 
hundred  thousand  eggs  every  season. 

In  the  meadow  below  and  'in  full  view  from  his  dwellincr. 
house,  Mr.  Christie  will  have  a  pond  or  miniature  lake  of 
SIX  or  eight  acres,  into  which  he  will  discharge  all  his  trout 
from  pond  No.  3  that  may  be  unsold  at  the  end  of  each 
season,  as  well  as  the  young  fish  he  may  not  find  sale  for 
Here,  by  the  time  the  pond  is  stocked  there  will  be  a  great 
deal  of  natural  food.      He  will  introduce  chub,  shiners, 


274 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTUKB. 


killies  and  other  harmless  species,  to  increase  the  amount 
of  food.     This  pond  he  will  keep  as  a  preserve  for  angling. 

The  hatching-house  and  ponds  are  in  accordance  with 
plans  furnished  by  the  writer;  the  former  having  been 
enlarged  and  improved  in  some  of  its  details  by  the  owner. 

Mr.  Christie  commenced  his  ponds  in  the  summer  of 
1867 ;  not  being  completed  in  time,  he  erected  a  temporary 
hatching-house  last  fall,  and  succeeded,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  writer,  beyond  his  anticipations ;  having  no  place  for 
his  young  fish,  he  sold  thera  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
supplied  persons  at  a  distance  with  eggs.  Out  of  eight 
thousand  sold  to  Mr.  Comfort,  on  the  Norristown  railroad, 
only  seven  or  eight  imperfect  eggs  were  found  on  delivery. 
He  has  a  goodly  supply  at  present,  and  by  the  spawning- 
season,  has  a  fair  prospect  of  increasing  his  number  of  brood- 
trout  to  three  thousand.  He  has  offers  from  persons  in 
his  neighborhood,  who  have  facility  for  rearing  trout,  but 
none  for  hatching  them,  to  take  his  surplus  fry  and  grow 
them  for  market,  eacji  party  to  participate  in  the  profits. 
His  address  is  P.  H.  Christie,  Clove,  Dutchess  county, 
New  York. 


IX. 

CULTIVATION  OF  FUR-BEARING  ANi'maLS. 
Since  fish  culture  has  been  introduced  in  this  country, 
many  persons  have  become  convinced  that  the  high  price 
which  the  finer  furs  command,  will  justify  the  domestica- 
tion of  animals  from  which  they  are  taken.  A  fine  mink 
skin,  for  instance,  will  bring  from  six  to  ten  dollars  when 
sold  to  the  furrier.  As  this  newer  branch  of  industry  is 
attracting  some  attention,  I  may  appropriately  give  the 
following  from  a  Montreal  paper. 


APPENDIX. 


275 


BREEDING  THE  MINK. 

«  T  1,         .       Casadaga,  Chautauqua  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  21. 
1  have  just  availed  myself  of  an  opportunity  to  fulfil 
your  desire  that  I  should  visit  the  '  Minkery'  at  this  place 
concerning  which  a  few  brief  paragraphs   have  floated 
through  the  newspapers,  and  give   to  the  readers  of  the 
^  Express  '  some  description  of  the  very  novel  and  interest- 
ing experiment  undertaken  by  Messrs.  Phillips  &  Wood- 
cock, m  breeding  and  domesticating  the  Mink.     I  found 
their  '  peculiar  institution'  as  curious  as  I  had  been  led  to 
expect    and  as  well  worth  an  examination.     It  possesses 
not  only  the  interest  which  naturalists  would  find  in  it 
from  the  remarkable  opportunity  it  aflFords   for  studyin^^ 
the  habits  of  a  singular  and  little  known  animal,  but  it 
represents  one  of  the  beginnings  of  a  new  branch  of  animal 
propagation  and  domestic  culture,  which  is  destined,  I  have 
no  doubt  at  all,  to  assume   great  importance  hereafter. 
When  we   consider,  on    the  one   hand,  how  constantly  a 
demand  for  the  finer  furs  is  increasing  from  year  to  year, 
while  the  supply  still  more  rapidly  diminishes,  as  the  ani- 
mals furnishing  such  furs  are  exterminated  in  their  wild 
state  by  the  encroachment  of  civilization  upon  their  haunts 
we  can  see  very  well  that  the  question  whether  these  fur- 
bearing  animals  are  capable  of  domestic  propagation  or  not 
IS  a  serious  one,  and  that  to  determine  by  experiment  that 
they  are,  IS  to  found  a  description  of  business  which  can 
hardly  fail  to  grow  extensive  and  important.    If  the  wealthy 
society  of  northern  climates  has  no  recourse  but  to  the 
trapper  for  its  furs,  it  will  soon  have  to  dispense  with  that 
elegant  luxury;  for  the  wild  domain  of  nature  is  being  so 
rapidly  narrowed  on  both  continents,  that  the  trapper  will 
at  no  distant  day,  have  his  hunting  field  limited  to  the 
polar  circle. 

"  But  here,  at  this  juncture,  when  the  prospect  of  an 


276 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


exhausted  fur  trade  begins  to  be  made  pressing  by  enormous 
prices,  comes  up  the  idea  of  these  gentlemen  in  this  region 
of  country  who  have  undertaken,  with  thoroughly  Yankee 
shrewdness,  to  propagate  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
fur-bearing  animals,  the  mink,  in  a  state  of  semi- domestica- 
tion or  confinement ;  and  the  fact  that  their  experiment  is 
so  far  promising  nothing  but  successful  results,  is  a  fact  to 
be  announced  as  one  of  public  interest  and  importance. 

"  Messrs.  Phillips  &  Woodcock,  whose  '  Minkery'  I 
have  visited,  are  not,  I  believe,  the  pioneers  of  the  business, 
but  entered  upon  it  with  some  guidance  from  the  experience 
of  others  who,  during  late  years,  have  been  testing  the 
domestication  of  the  mink.  They  commenced  their  under- 
taking in  December,  1866,  with  seven  pairs  of  spring 
'  kittens,'  as  they  call  them,  from  which  they  expected 
no  increase  the  following  spring — last  year.  They  were 
agreeably  (disappointed,  however,  by  obtaining  young  from 
six  of  the  females,  altogether  to  the  number  of  twenty-six. 
The  product  was  from  one  to  seven  each,  showing  a  remark- 
able variation.  It  is  said  by  those  experienced  that  the 
prolificness  of  the  mink  at  the  age  at  which  this  increase 
was  obtained,  may  be  considered  as  its  minimum,  as  it  is 
common  for  them  in  later  periods  to  bear  from  six  to  nine 
annually;  so  that  the  seven  original  pairs  may  be  expected 
to  largely  increase  their  progeny  next  spring,  while  the 
young  '  kittens'  of  last  spring  will  at  the  same  time  become 
fruitful.  Another  year,  therefore,  is  likely  to  multiply  the 
present  stock  of  the  breeders  several  times. 

"  The  '  Minkery/  designed  to  acbommodate  one  hundred 
minks  for  breeding,  consists,  first,  of  an  enclosure  aboutrforty 
feet  square,  made  by  digging  a  trench  one  foot  deep,  laying  a 
plank  at  the  bottom,  and  from  the  outer  edge  starting  the 
wall,  which  consists  of  boards  four  feet  high,  with  a  board 
to  cap  the  top,  projecting  inward  eight  or  ten  inches  to 


APPENDIX. 


277 


prevent  their  climbing  over.     Within  this  enclosure  is  a 
building  fourteen  by  twenty.four,  supplied  with  running 
water,  from  which  the  mink  catch  living  fish,  that  are  often 
furnished,  with  the  greatest  delight.     The  building  is  cou- 
8t;'ucted  with  an  alley  three  feet  wide  around  its  entire  cir- 
cumference.    Within,  are  two  rows  of  cells  four  feet  deep, 
and  from  t\70  and  two  and  a  half  wide,  each  having  a  door 
ventilated  at  the  top  and  bottom  with  wire  screens,  as  is 
also  the  outer  wall  opposite  the  cell.     There  is  also  at  the 
front  entrance  what  the  proprietors  call  the   ante-rooms, 
four  by  four  feet,  which  must  be  fastened  within  every  time 
the  building  is  entered  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  impri- 
soned  animals.     On  entering  the  main   hall,  which   the 
minks  have  access  to  (when  not  rearing  their  young>,  they 
present  a  very  playful  group.     The  person  feeding  them  is 
often  mounted  for  their  food,  and  their  tenacity  of  hold  is 
so  strong  that  they  niiiy  be  drawn  about  or  lifted  without 
releasing  their  hold  upon  the  food.     The  nest  of  the  female 
is  very  peculiarly  constructed  of  grass,  leaves,  or  straw, 
with  a  lining  of  her  own  fur  so  firmly  compacted  together 
as  to  be  with  difficulty  torn  in  pieces.     The  aperture  lead- 
ing to  the  nest  is  a  round  opening  just  sufficient  to  admit 
the  dam,  and  is  provided  with  a  deflected  curtain,  which 
covers  the  entrance  and  effectually  secures  her  against  all 
invasion  when  she  is  within.     About  the  middle  of  March 
the  females  are  separated  from  the  males  until  the  young 
are  reared.     The  necessity  of  this  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  male  seems  inclined  to  brood  the  young  almost  as 
much  as  the  dam,  when  both  are  permitted  to  remain 
together. 

"  The  expense  of  feeding  the  animals  is  almost  nominal, 

being  supplied  pretty  much  entirely  from  the  usual  offal  of 

the  farm-yard,  with  occasional  woodchucks  and  game  in 

general.      They  eat  this   food  with  equal   avidity  afV«r 

24 


278 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


decomposition  has  taken  place,  devouring  every  particle  of 
flesh,  cartilages,  and  the  softer  bcnes.  The  flesh  and  bones 
entire  of  the  woodchuck  are  consumed  often  at  a  single 
meal.  While  the  expense  of  keeping  is  thus  trivial,  the 
profitable  yield  of  ^Le  animal  is  immense,  it  being  consi- 
dered a  moderate  estimate  to  claim  that  one  mink  with  her 
increase  will  equal  the  avails  of  a  cow.  Should  this  calcu- 
lation hold  good  when  the  propagit'on  of  the  mink  is 
carried  to  a  large  scale,  the  business  will  become  one  of  the 
most  profitable  in  the  world. 

"  So  far,  the  experience  of  these  gentlemen  with  the 
undomest5c{>ted  mink  has  not  been  satisfactory,  as  their 
shyness  cannot  be  overcome,  and  they  have  never  obtained 
any  increase  from  the  animals  in  their  wild  state.  They 
had  tc  bci  taken  when  young  and  domesticated. 

"  Casadftga,  the  scene  of  this  novel  experiment,  is  a 
pretty  village  very  pleasantly  situated  v.pou  the  shore  of 
Casadaga  Lake,  which  is  three  miles  long,  abounding  with 
fish,  and  its  waters  supplied  entirely  by  springs.  It  is  the 
very  dividing  ridge  of  waters  between  the  great  courses  of 
the  north  and  south.  Thj  town  will  be  reached  one  year 
hence,  probably,  by  the  Dunkirk,  Warren,  and  Pittsburgh 
llailroad,  now  distant  ten  miles  from  Dunkirk.  It  has  a 
population  of  a  few  hundred,  does  some  manufacturing, 
has  two  dry-goods  stores,  two  groceries,  and  good  fishing,  us 
many  a  Butfalonian  can  attest' 


.  i> 


X. 

AMERICAN  FISH  FOR  ENGLISH  WAIERS. 

In  a  chapte;  on  the  naturalization  of  fishes,  I  have  alluded 
to  a  suggestion  which  I  made  to  Mr.  Fnvncis.  joncerning 
the  advantages  of  acclimating  the  smaller  epeces  of  catfish 


APPENDIX. 


279 


in  the  waste  waters  of  England.  As  it  may  be  a  matter  of 
interest  to  some  persons  to  know  what  other  fishes  are 
recommended,  I  give  my  letter  as  published  in  "  The  Field" 
with  some  few  corrections,  as  well  as  Mr.  Francis's  very 
sensible  remarks  prefacing  it.  I  also  give  some  extracts 
from  Mr.  Francis's  letter  in  reply  to  mine,  which  I  regret 
to  say,  does  not  show  that  the  acclimation  of  fresh  water 
species  is  making  the  progress  we  had  hoped  for. 

Sir,— The  accompanying  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  the 
United  States  contains  so  much  which  cannot  fail  to  be 
exceedingly  interesting  to  a  large  portion  of  the  readers  of 
"  The  Fiold,"  that  I  have  no  hesitation  in  making  it  public 
merely  suppressing  the  name  of  the  writer.     The  question 
of  whether  salmon  can  propagate  when  cut  off  from  the  sea 
receives  here  a  very  valuable  reply ;  for  although  we  can- 
not  of  course  be  certain  that  the  fish  noted  by  T.  N.  really 
were  true  salmon  originally,  there  is  a  great  air  of  proba- 
bility in  the  surmise ;  and  it  seems  difficult  to  understand 
what  particular  effect  upon  the  constitution  or  organs  of 
generation  of  fishes  the  salt  water  can  have,  that  any  par- 
ticular fish  which   breeds  in  fresh  water  should  be  inca- 
pacitated  from  procreation  by  the  want  of  a  trip  to  the  sea. 
My  own  theory  is,  that  it  is  sin.ply  the  want  of  that  profuse 
nourishment  which  the  sea  affords  which  is  felt  by  the  fish  ; 
and  until  the  experiment  suggested  by  me  some  time  since, 
of  confining  some  kelts*  and  feeding  them  abundantly,  is 
tried  with  a  view  to  see  how  far  the  fish  can  be  restored  to 
condition  without  a  visit  to  trhe  salt  w.itcr,  we  can  form  but 
a  m(  re  conjectural  opinion  on  the  subject,  which  is  of  little 
value^   No  doubt  the  fi«h  noted  by  T.  N.  here,  are  the 

^'  This  term  in  applied  to  salmon  which  have  recently  spawned 

X  •  IN* 


280 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


I 


same  as  those  mentioned  a  few  weeks  since  by  your  corres- 
pendent  "  A  Wandering  Naturalist,"  who  speaks  of  a  fish 
which  he  calls  "the  silvery  salmon  trout"  of  the  Schoodic 
Lakes  and  the  St.  Croix. 

As  regards  the  introduction  of  American  fish,  there  are 
undoubtedly  many  which  would  be  of  great  value  to  us; 
and,  if  we  had  any  piscatorial  society  in  this  country! 
iinmense  benefits  might  be  conferred  upon  our  rivers  and 
akes  by  means  of  it.  One  or  two  attempts  have  been  made 
to  introduce  American  fish,  but  they  have  failed,  for  the 
want  of  the  commonest  care.  Ho^e  is  an  account,  from 
another  correspondent  of  mine  in  the  States,  of  the  failure 
of  an  attempt  to  bring  over  the  bass  : 

«  f,  ^.^^  ^  misfortune  before  he  left  here.     He  got  a  letter 

of  mtroductjon  to  a  person  in ,  who  had  black  bass  for  sale, 

and  he  employed  mechanics,  who  constructed  a  water  tank*  for 
transporting  his  fish  in,  and  started  after  the  bass.  The  gentleman 
who  owns  the  bass  ponds  entertained  him  hospitably,  made  his  men 
draw  a  pond  for  bass,  and  presented  the  bass  to  _-,  who  started 
with  them  for  this  c.ty.  After  three  hours'  travel  by  rail  the  fish 
appeared  sound  and  healthy ;  and,  being  then  on  board  a  steamer 
which  would  reach  here  the  next  morning,  he  did  not  think  it  neces- 
sary  to  change  the  water,  add  more,  or  vivify  it  by  an  air  pump 
The  result  was,  that  when  he  arrived  here  the  next  morning  Cs'i; 
were  all  dca.1,  and  his  water  tank,  which  cost  forty  dollars,  a  dead 
loss.     Myohagrmor  regret  hardly  prevented  me  from  character- 

i..ng  the  affair  as  it  deserved.     But, '«  /a«x  pas  notwithstand- 

ing,  I  can  send  back  bass  to  England." 

Comment  upon  such  a  wretched  failure  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary.  The  worst  of  these  failures  is,  that  they  deter  others 
from  attempting  again  a  thing  which,  after  all,  with  the 


*Fi6h  with  sharp  spines  should  have  twice  as  much  room  in 
transporfng  ti.em  as  soft  finned  fish,  as  they  are  apt  to  wound 
each  other  if  too  closely  confined.— T.N. 


APPENDIX. 


281 


commonest  care,  may  be  comparatively  easy.  The  stocking 
of  the  Potomac  with  salmon  bass  is  an  instance,  on  the 
other  side,  of  what  a  little  shrewdness  and  readiness  in 
resource  may  do. 

Many  of  these  American  fishes,  as  the  bass,  shad,  &c 
would  be  particularly  valuable  to  us  as  estuary  fish,  and 
there  are  very  few  of  our  rivers  which  they  would  not  suit; 
and,  after  being  naturalized  in  one  or  two,  they  would 
spread  to  others  of  their  own  accord.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, if  they  get  on  but  slowly  in  the  progress  of  piscicul- 
ture in  the  United  States,  we  do  not  get  on  at  all.  In 
fact,  if  we  are  doing  anything,  we  are  going  back.  This  is 
most  unfortunate,  as  there  really  is  a  splendid  field  of  opera- 
tions in  this  country,  if  there  were  any  means  of  directing, 
assisting,  and  encouraging  those  operations. 

. Francis  Francis. 

Dear  Sir,— In  the  second  edition  of  your  valuable  work 
on  fish  culture,  page  21,  you  speak  of  a  species  of  salmon 
above  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  in  the  great  lakes,  visiting  the 
vicinity  of  Salt  Springs,  &c.     I  refer  you  to  the  passage. 

In  accordance  with  the  wish  you  express,  I  would  nay 
there  are  no  salmon  above  the  falls  alluded  to;  that  they 
were  never  known  there.  The  only  species  of  salmo 
attammg  the  size  of  the  salmon  are  Salmo  naymarush  and 
another  lately  detected  by  Professor  Agas^^iz— I  forget  the 
scientific  name  just  now,  but  previously  it  was  confounded 
with  ,S'.  nni/macuh.  Both  of  these  species  grow  to  the 
weight  of  801b.,  and  have  been  known  larger.  They  are 
inferior  fish,  both  in  beauty  and  flavor,  compared  with  the 
anadromous  salmon.  In  habits,  and  in  fact  in  appearance, 
they  are  very  like  your  Salmo  fcmr  of  Scotland. 

Now  ,18  to  a  salmon  wo  have,  which  does  not  <jo  to  sen. 

It  is  found  in  the  Schoodic  Lakes,  which  are  drained  bv 

24*  •' 


I 

I 


282 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


and  connect  with  the  St.  Croix,  which  river  divides  the 
state  of  Maine  from  the  British  province  of  New  Bruos- 
wich.     Agassiz  says  there  is  no  doubt  of  there  being  land- 
locked salmon,  having  all  the  specific  characteristics   of 
Salmo  salar.    It  is  supposed  that  in  past  centuries,  perhaps 
ages  ago,  some  obstruction  was  interposed,  and,  not  being 
able  to  go  to  sea,  they  eventually  propagated  their  species, 
and  remained,  producing  dwarf  salmon ;  and,  though  having 
free  access  to  the  ocean  since,  have  been  so  modified  as  to 
lose  their  anadromous   instinct,  and   do   not  attempt   to 
migrate.      They  are  much   like   grilse  in  the  sport  they 
afford,  leap  often  and  high  when  hooked,  and  not  less  plucky 
for  their  size,  which  averages  about  Ulb.,  though  some- 
times they  attain  41b.  or  51b.,  and  in  rare  cases  71b.     Great 
catches  are  made  every  summer  by  anglers  on  both  sides 
of  the  border.     Capt.  C,  R.  A.,  stationed  at  Fredericktown, 
N.  B.,  is  very  successful  in  taking  them.     The  sport  is 
only  with  the  fly,  of  course,  large  trout  flies  being  generally 
used.     This  fish  would  do  splendidly  in  your  Scottish  rivers 
and  lakes,  particularly  where  the  latter  are  connected  by 
the  former. 

In  reading  your  account  of  the  introduction  of  Silunis 
glanis  into  England,  the  thought  occurred  to  me  that  the 
smaller  species  of  our  catfish,  of  which  there  are  two,  the 
white  and  yellow,  would  be  a  great  acquisition  to  your  slug- 
gish and  fat  waters.     They  are  exceeding  fine  pan  fish,  the 
heads  being  taken  off  when  so  cooked,  and  they  make  an 
excellent  stew  with  the  heads  on.     In  the  former  case  they 
are  skinned  as  eels;  in  the  latter  only  scraped  and  cleansed, 
the  skin  and  head  remaining,  contributing  to  the  gluten,' 
which  adds  to  the  richness  of  the  stew.     There  are  some 
gigantic  species  of  this  fish  in  streams  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  but  they  are  coarse,  tough,  and  distasteful.     They 
are  exceedingly  hardy,  and  occupy  suoh  habitat  as  eels 


APPENDIX. 


283 


generally  do.  They  can  hardly  be  called  predacious,  but 
herbiverous,  as  carp  are,  and  therefore  not  destructive  to 
the  fry  of  finer  species.  Although  fond  of  muddy  streams 
and  still  waters,  they  will  thrive  in  any  water,  and  would 
perhaps  improve  on  the  condition  of  the  Thames  below 
London,  which  is  so  detrimental  to  other  fish.  They  are 
found  all  spring,  summer,  and  autumn,  in  our  Philadelphia 
market,  tied  in  bunches,  unhided  and  decapitated,  and 
hawked  about  the  streets  by  fish  women.  The  texture  of 
the  meat  is  something  like  trout,  and  they  are  next  to  that 
fish  in  excellence  for  the  pan. 

Another  fish  I  have  for  some  time  thought  of  bringing 
to  your  notice— you  have  made  slight  allusion  to  it— the 
black  bass.  There  are  two  species :  Grystes  nigricans,  the 
lake  bass;  and  Gri/stes  salmoides,  the  bass  of  the  western 
and  southern  waters  (by  west  I  mean  west  of  the  Allegheny 
mountains).  They  are  predacious  rascals,  though,  and 
would  play  havoc  with  salmon  fry,  and  therefore  shpuld 
not  be  introduced  into  such  streams;  the  G.  nigricans, 
however,  would  seldom  if  ever  go  out  of  the  lakes,  especially 
into  such  water  as  salmon  spawn  in,  though  the  other 
species  might. 

Both  of  these  species  are  very  easily  naturalized  in  any 
new  habitat.  Many  of  our  lakelets,  ponds,  and  millponds 
have  become  productive  of  G.  nigricans.  The  other  fish, 
G.  salmoides,  has  been  introduced  into  tlie  Potomac,  and 
become  abundant  there.  Three  rods  have  made  a  catch 
in  a  day  of  3261b.  This  fish  was  unknown  in  the  Potomac 
until  about  fourteen  years  since,  when  an  engineer  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  as  he  was  about  starting  east- 
ward,  put  twenty  of  them  into  a  bag-net  and  soused  them 
into  the  water  tank  of  the  locomotive.  When  he  arrived 
at  CumberirP'l,  a  town  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  moun- 
tains,  he  let  it  i  fish  loose  into  the  Potomac,  a  diminutive 


284 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Stream  there,  and  the  consequence  is  they  have  multiplied 
m  all  the  tributaries  of  that  river  (and  now  aflFord  fine 
sport,  as  they  rise  beautifully  at  the  fly,  and  are  excellent 
eating)  as  far  down  as  the  Great  Falls,  about  twenty-fivo 
miles  above  Washington.  Not  being  anadromous,  they 
show  no  disposition  to  shoot  the  falls  and  make  their  escape 
to  tide  water. 

I  would  say  further  of  the  catfish,  that  any  merci^ntile 
house  at  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore,  in  connection  with 
London  or  Liverpool,  could  easily  procure  a  few  score  of 
them  and  send  them  over.  They  are  so  hardy  that  the 
steward  of  a  steamer  or  sailing  vessel,  for  a  small  fee,  would 
take  charge  of  them,  and  land  them  with  little  or  no  loss  in 
numbers. 

^  In  conclusion  of  this  letter,  I  must  thank  you  for  the 
instruction  I  have  derived  from  your  book  on  fish  culture 
as  well  as  that  on  angling;  and,  further,  would  ask  the 
favor  of  your  sending  me  any  further  information  in  a 
printed  form  that  has  appeared  on  the  stocking  of  salmon 
rivers  in  Great  Britain,  the  progress  of  the  Thames  /^ngling 
Preservation  Society,  &c.  We  are  making  but  slow  pro- 
gress  in  pisciculture  here,  but  are  beginning  to  open  our 
eyes  to  its  advantages  in  bringing  back  salmon  and  shad  to 
the  rivers  from  which  we  have  banished  them,  and  are 
doing  something  at  least  to  this  end. 

By  the  way,  if  you  could  introduce  our  shad  into  your 
rivers,  it  would  be  a  great  acquisition;  its  average  size  is 
3ilbs.  to  41bs.,  and  it  grows  to  71bs.  All  of  your  country- 
men who  have  eaten  of  it  hero  can  testify  as  to  its  juicy, 
delicate  flavor.  It  also  smokes  and  salts  down  well.  Fur' 
ther  in  its  favor,  it  is  a  sea  fish,  paying  only  one  annual 
visit  to  our  rivers,  and  that  for  the  purpose  of  spawning; 
deriving  all  its  growth  from  its  feeding-grounds  at  sea,  like 
the  salmon,  but,  unlike  that  fish,  increasing  in  fresh  water, 


APPENDIX. 


285 


up  to  the  time  of  its  spawning,  in  both  flesh  and  flavor. 
No  food,  however,  has  been  at  any  time  found  in  its 
stomach  after  entering  our  rivers.  There  may  be  one 
obstacle,  however,  to  its  introduction  into  European  rivers ; 
this  is,  that  its  spawn  hatches  out  in  the  incredibly  short 
time  of  fifty-two  hours.  It  was  so  proved  on  the  Connecti- 
cut river  last  summer,  when  forty  millions  of  young  shad 
were  produced  by  aitificial  impregnation  and  incubation 
and  turned  loose  in  that  river.  The  young  shad  migrates  t!i 
sea  the  first  summer.  m  ^ 

Francis  Francis,  Esq.,  Twickenham. 

The  following  b  Mr.  Francis's  letter  on  receipt  of  the 
author's. 

The  Furs,  Twickenham,  Middlesex. 
^    Dear  Sib,— Very  many  thanks  for  your  most  interest- 
ing letter,  which  was  so  interesting  to  me  that  I  took  the 
hberty  of  publishing  it  in  «  The  Field,"  and  herewith  I  send 
you  a  copy  of  the  paper  with  a  few  remarks  of  my  own 
introductory.     I  hope  you  will  not  think  I  have  taken  an 
undue  liberty;  but  I  thought  as  I  did  not  publish  the  name, 
that  I  might  do  so.     Singularly  enough,  the  publication 
of  It  with  my  remarks  has  turned  up  a  prospect  of  some- 
thing  useful  resulting.     For  the  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  who 
IS  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  wrote  to  me  this  morning 
upon  the  subject,  and  said  if  I  would  start  a  piscicultural 
society  he  would  make  a  commencement,  and  put  his  name 
down  for  £100  and  a  yearly  subscription  of  £10  or  £20  as 
the  case  might  require.     Since  the  acclimatization  society 
broke  up  my  fish  cultural  establishment,  we  have  been  at  a 
standstill.     Indeed,  we  have  been  going  back,  and  nothing 
practical  has  been  done  in  pisciculture  or  even  attempted 
********* 
A  g-eat  fuss  has  been  made  about  stocking  the  Thames 
with  salmon.     Hundreds  of  pounds  have  been  spent,  and 


286 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


hundreds  of  thousands  of  fry  have  been  wasted.     For  in 
its  present  state  no  salmon  fry  can  pass  through  the  London 
filth  to  the  sea.     I  told  them  that  it  was  impossible  from 
the  first.     Mr.  Ffennel,  our  late  inspector,  and  every  person 
really  acquainted  with  the   salmon,  said  the  same  thing. 
Yet,  have  they  gone  on  with  this  insane  experiment  for  six 
or  seven  years  in  succession,  and  never  a  single  grilse  has 
been  seen  above  London,  nor  will  any  be  seen  until  the 
sewerage,  which  is  terribly  poisoned  with  gas,  refuse,  and 
many  other  matters  fatal  to  fish,  can  be  disposed  of,  when 
the  thing  may  be  practicable.     As  regards  the  young  trout 
put  into  the  river,  they  are  picked  up  by  the  perch  and  pike 
to  a  large  extent,  and  those  that  are  l^ft,  as  they  rise  freely 
to  the  fly,  are  caught  in  a  considerable  number  before  they 
get  to  a  pound  weight,  so  that  very  few  ever  increase  to  bene- 
fit in  any  way  the  stock  of  the  river.     I  greatly  fear  that  the 
whole  thing  is  little  better  than  a  complete  failure.     Last 
season  almost  the  whole  of  the  fry  were  stolen  by  one  of 
the  men  about  them,  and  sold  surreptitiously,  as  they  are 
worth  money.     There  is  really  no  piscicultural  news  at  all 
beyond  this.     I  wish  there  was— and  such  being  the  state 
of  things,  I  am  sorely  tempted  to  try  my  hand  again  by 
Lord  Breadalbane's  offer,  if  it  were  not  for  the  immense 
amount  of  trouble  and  expense  which  such  work  entails 
without  any  prospect  of  paying  even  in  the  long  run.     Lord 
B.  was  much  struck  with  your  remarks  on  the  catfish,*  &c., 

*  It  will  be  seen  on  page  216  how  these  fish  can  be  transported  in 
wet  cloths  ;  last  spring  a  few  of  them  were  quite  lively  when  shaken 
from  a  blanket  after  the  wagon  had  returned  to  the  city,  when  they 
had  been  out  of  water  for  twelve  hours.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with 
some  care  they  could  be  eent  to  England  by  steamer  in  the  same 
way.  Keeping  the  cloths  saturated  with  water  not  over  ten  degrees 
above  freezing  point,  and  a  daily  examination  to  take  out  any  that 
might  die,  I  think  would  insure  the  transportation  of  at  least  half 
of  them.     The  experiment  would  cost  but  a  trifle. 


APPENDIX. 


287 


80  probably  I  may  have  to  trouble  you  again  for  further 
information. 


XI. 

DR.  J.  H.  SLACK'S  TROUT-BREEDING  ESTABLISHMENT. 
The  three  illustrations,  "  Trout  Dale  Spring,"  "  Trout 
Dale  Hatching-house,"  and  ''Trout  Dale  Fish  Ponds," 
appeared  originally  in  the  June  number  of  "Harper's 
Weekly."  The  publishers  of  this  book  purchased  the 
plates,  which,  with  some  little  alteration  have  been  made 
to  contribute  to  the  ornate  appearance  of  this  appendix. 

This  establishment  is  in  Warren  county,  New  Jersey, 
near  the  Musconetcong  creek,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
Valley  station,  on  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey. 
It  is  nine  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Easton,  Pennsylvania, 
and  sixty-five  miles  west  of  New  York.  It  was  commenced 
by  the  writer  in  May  1866,  and  sold  in  an  uncompleted 
condition  to  Dr.  J.  H.  Slack,  in  September  1867. 

The  spring  discharges  something  over  a  thousand  gallons 
per  minute;  which  is  about  one-third  the  flow  of  the  Ingham 
spring,  where  the  writer  is  about  to  construct  another Lut 
factory.    The  water  is  uniformly  at  50°  winter  and  summer. 
The  hatching-house  is  in  accordance  with  the  plan  in 
the  third  chapter  of  this  book.     So,  also,  are  the  ponds 
(which  lay  parallel  to  each  other  in  front  of  the  hatching, 
house)  such  in  their  proportions,  as  I  have  recommended. 
Dr.  Slack's  success,  as  well  as  that  of  others  who  engage 
in  the  business,  will  depend  much  on  that  careful  attention 
to  details  which  I  have  so  strongly  urged. 


288 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


N 


XII. 

STEPHEN   H.  AINSAVORTH'S    NEW   HATCHING-RACE,  FOR 
NATURAL  PROPAGATION, 

On  a  preceding  page  I  have  alluded  to  the  loss  of  ova 
which  the  trout  culturist  sustains  by  fish  spawning  in  the 
race  at  night,  or  between  the  stated  times  of  driving  them 
down  into  the  trap  for  the  purpose  of  manipulating  them. 
Persons  who  are  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  indi- 
cations of  ripeness  of  trout,  also  take  many  immature  egj^s, 
and  from  lack  of  experience  do  not  fecundate  all  they  obtain. 
To  obviate  such  loss,  Mr.  Ainsworth  has  invented  the 
hatching-race  described  below.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say 
that  he  would  submit  no  plan  without  giving  it  much 
deliberate  thought;  that  he  is  thoroughly  practical,  as 
can  be  judged  from  his  success  in  matters  belonging  to  his 
several  avocations :  i.  e.  nurseryman,  farmer,  and  stock- 
raiser.  The  description  of  the  hatching-race  are  his  own 
words. 

"  First  build  the  race  three  or  four  feet  wide,  the  sides 
of  plank,  and  bottom  of  plank  or  stone  nicely  paved,  so  as 
to  have  the  bottom  perfectly  clean  at  all  times.  Cover  the 
whole  bottom  of  the  race  with  wire  screens  of  zinc  or  of  iron 
painted,  about  ten  or  twelve  wires  to  Is  iuch.  so  as  to  hold 
all  the  spawn  that  falls  on  them.  Pbe^t  these  screei-^  on 
half  inch  strips  of  wood  so  as  to  huld  tu^m  a/id  the  spawn 
half  an  inch  above  the  pavement.  Nail  these  screens  on  to 
a  one  inch  frame>  and  place  them  side  by  side  the  whole 
length  of  the  race ;  which  may  be  from  ten  to  fifty  feet 
long,  according  to  the  number  of  spawning  trout. 


Il 


APPENDIX. 


289 


"Then  make  another  set  of  wire  screens,  of  about  three 

wires  to  the  inch,  so  that  the  spawn  will  fall  through  with 

ease,  and  nail  these  on  to  a  frame  one  by  two  inches. 

Have  handles  on  all  of  them,  so  as  to  take  them  up  easily! 

Place  these  over  the  fine  ones,  which  will  give  a  space  of 

one  inch  between  the  top  and  bottom  screens.     Now  sift 

gravel  through  a  sieve  of  two  wires  to  the  inch,  so  as  to  be 

sure  to  get  out  all  the  gravel  that  would  pass  through  the 

upper  screen.     Wash  this  coarse  gravel  clean,  and  put  it 

about  two  inches  thick  on  the  upper  screens.     Then  make 

small  nests,  within  every  foot  or  eighteen  inches  of  each 

other,  by  digging  nearly  down  to  the  wire  of  the  upper 

screen. 

"  The  female  trout  will  whip  the  gravel  in  these  nests  clear 
down  to  the  wire  and  deposit  their  spawn,  wffich  will  mostly 
fall  through  to  the  lower  screen,  and  be  plainly  in  sight. 
The  male  will  eject  his  milt  as  usual  upon  them,  with  the 
whip  of  his  tail  to  agitate  the  water,  and  thus  impregnate 
them  all.  The  female  will  now  cover  them  up,  and  likely 
sift  all  the  spawn  that  has  lodged  in  the  gravel,  through 
the  upper  screen  on  to  the  lower  one,  and  thus  in  time 
deposit  all  her  spawn  in  perfection  and  perfectly  imprcff- 
nated.  J       t    b 

"  The  water  should  be  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  deep  over 

the  gravel  in  the  race,  with  a  gentle  current.     Should  any 

spawn  remain  in  the  graVel,  they  will  be  very  likely  to  fall 

down  by  raising  the  upper  screens  up  and  down  a  few 

times  in  the  water,  or  with  a  little  sifting  at  most,  so  that 

nearly  all  will  find  their  way  on  to  the  under  screen.     I 

would  take  out  all  the  screens  in  from  one  to  six  days,  and 

place  the  spawn  in  my  form  of  hatching  box. 

"  Firstly,  this  method  will  always  ensure  perfect  impreo-. 
nation ;  '^ 

"  Secondly,  it  will  save  three-fourths  of  the  time  at  least ; 


£90 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTVJRE. 


"  Thirdly,  it  will  save  all  the  parent  trout  in  health, 
whereas,  in  artificial  impregnation  it  kills  some  by  constant 
handling ; 

"  Fourthly,  the  young  will  be  more  perfect,  stronger,  and 
healthier,  from  the  perfectly  mature  spawn ; 

"  Fifthly,  the  trout  cannot  get  at  the  spawn  to  eat  them ; 

"  Sixthly,  it  saves  a  world  of  cave  and  watching. 

"  These  screens  can  be  placed  in  any  stream,  and  the 
spawn  i.s  taken  in  perfection.  They  will  handle  best  the 
width  of  the  wire  cloth,  and  the  length  the  width  of  tho 
race,  with  handles  at  the  ends." 


M 


XIII. 

CRUSTACEA. 


The  following  extracts  from  "  The  Harvest  of  the  Sea," 
will  give  some  idea  of  the  immense  number  of  Crustacea 
consumed  by  the  people  of  London,  as  well  as  an  insight 
of  the  natural  history  of  some  of  the  members  of  this  class 
of  animals.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  statistical  information 
having  been  furnished  of  the  amount  of  this  kind  of  food, 
in  the  Unitod  States,  but  the  number  of  lobsters  consumed 
east  of  New- York  must  be  immense. 

Crabs  are  more  commonly  eaten  south  of  that  city  along 
the  whole  extent  of  our  coast,  and  are  generally  considered 
a  delicacy,  soft  crabs  particularly  so.  Crabs  are  found  in 
immense  numbers  in  the  shoal  waters  of  the  southern  sea- 
board states.  In  some  of  the  creeks  on  the  Chesapeake 
Bay,  I  have  seen  them  so  numerous  that  some  thousands 
might  have  been  counted  on  the  area  of  a  single  rod  of  the 


II 


ei 

8( 


1! 
APPENDIX.  291 

bottom.  There  is  no  doubt,  that  where  they  are  so  abun- 
dant, enclosures  might  be  made  of  hurdles,  and  hard  crabs 
collected  and  kept  until  the  time  of  shedding.  Soft  crabs,  as 
they  would  then  be,  command  a  high  price  in  our  city 
markete,  varying  from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a 
half  per  dozen. 

Shell-fish  is  the  popular  name  bestowed  by  unscientific 
peisons  on  the  Crustacea  and  mollusca,  and  no  other  desig- 
nation could  so  well  cover  the  multitudinous  variety  of 
forms  which  are  embraced  in  these  extensive  divisions  of 
the  animal  kingdom.  Fanciful  disquisitions  on  shell-fish 
and  on  marine  zoology  have  been  intruded  on  the  public 
of  late  till  they  have  become  somewhat  tiresome ;  but  as 
our  knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  all  kinds  of  sea 
animals,  and  particularly  of  oysters,  lobsters,  crabs,  etc.,  is 
decidedly  on  the  increase,  there  is  yet  room  for  all  that  T 
have  to  say  on  the  subject  of  these  dainties ;  and  there  are 
still  unexplored  wonders  of  animal  life  in  the  fathomless  sea 
that  deserve  the  deepest  study. 

The  economic  and  productive  phases  of  our  shell-fish 
fisheries  have  never  yet,  in  my  opinion,  been  sufficiently 
discussed,  and  when  I  state  that  the  power  of  multiplica- 
tion possessed  by  all  kinds  of  crustacea  and  mollusca  is  even 
greater,  if  that  be  possible,  than  that  possessed  by  finned 
fishes,  it  will  bo  obvious  that  there  is  much  in  their  natural 
history  that  must  prove  interesting  even  to  the  most  general 
reader.  Each  oyster,  as  we  have  seen,  gives  birth  to  almost 
incredible  quantities  of  young.  Lobsters  also  have  an 
amazing  fecundity,  and  yield  an  immense  number  of  eggs- 
each  female  ])roduoing  from  twelve  to  twenty  thousand  in  a 
season;  and  the  crab  is  likewise  most  prolific.  I  lately 
purchased  a  crab  weighing  within  au  ounce  of  two  pounds, 


202 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


and  it  contained  a  mass  of  minute  eggs  equal  in  size  to  a 
man's  hand  j  these  were  so  minute  that  a  very  small  por- 
tion of  them,  picked  oflf  with  the  point  of  a  pin,  when 
placed  on  a  bit  of  glass,  and  counted  by  the  aid  of  a  power- 
ful microscope,  numbered  over  sixty,  each  appearing  of  the 
size  of  a  red  currant,  and  no*  at  all  unlike  that  fruit :  so 
far  as  I  could  guess  the  eggs  were  not  nearly  ripe.  I  also 
examined  about  the  same  time  a  quantity  of  shrimp  eggs ; 
and  it  is  curious  that,  while  there  are  the  cock  and  hen 
lobster,  I  never  saw  any  difference  in  the  sex  of  the 
shrimps  :  all  that  I  handled,  amounting  to  hundreds,  were 
females,  and  all  of  them  were  laden  with  spawn,  the  eggs 
being  so  minute  as  to  resemble  grains  of  the  finest  sand. 

Although  the  crustacean  family  counts  its  varieties  by 
thousands,  and  contains  members  of  all  sizes,  from  minute 
animalcuiae  to  gigantic  American  crabs  and  lobsters,  and 
ranges  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  complex  forms,  yet 
the  edible  varieties  are  not  at  all  numerous.  The  largest 
of  these  are  the  lobster  (Astacus  marinus)  and  the  crab 
{Cancer pagurus)  j  and  river  and  sea  cray-fish  may  also  be 
seen  in  considerable  quantities  in  London  shell-fish  shops  j 
and  as  for  common  shrimps  (  Crangon  vulgaris)  and  prawns 
{Palsemon  serratis),  they  are  eaten  in  myriads.  The  violet 
or  marching  crab  of  the  West  Indies,  and  the  robber  crab 
common  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  are  also  esteemed  as 
great  delicacies  of  the  table,  but  are  unknown  in  this 
country  except  by  reputation. 

Mr.  Cancer  pagurm  is  watched  as  he  bustles  out  for  his 
evening  promenade,  and,  on  being  deftly  pitched  upon  his 
back  by  means  of  a  poie,  he  indignantly  seizes  upon  it  with 
all  his  might,  and  the  stick  being  shaken  a  little  has  the 
desirable  effect  of  causing  Mr.  Crab  to  cling  thereto  with 
great  tenacity,  which  is,  of  course,  the  very  thing  desired 


APPENDIX. 


293 


by  the  grinning  "  human"  at  the  other  end,  as  whenever  he 
feels  his  prey  secure  he  dexterously  hauls  him  on  board, 
unhooks  the  crusty  gentleman  with  a  jerk,  and  adds  him  to 
the  accumulating  heap  at  the  bottom  of  the  old  boat.  The 
monkeys  in  the  West  Indies  are,  however,  still  more  inge- 
nious than  the  "  fisher  loons"  of  Arran  or  Skye.  Those 
wise  animals,  when  they  take  a  notion  of  dining  on  a  crab, 
proceed  to  the  rocks,  and  slyly  insinuating  their  tail  into 
one  of  the  holes  where  the  Crustacea  take  refuge,  that 
appendage  is  at  once  seized  upon  by  tiio  orab,  who  is  thereby 
drawn  from  his  hiding-place,  and,  being  speedily  dafehed  to 
pieces  on  the  hard  stone,  aflFords  a  fine  feast  to  his  captor. 
********* 

The  west  and  north-west  coasts  of  Ireland  abound  with 
fine  lobsters,  and  welled  vessels  bring  thence  supplies  for 
the  London  market,  and  it  is  said  that  a  supply  of  10,000  a 
week  can  easily  be  obtained.     Immense  quantities  are  also 
procured  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland.     A  year  or  two  ago 
I  saw  on  board  the  Mesman  steamboat  at  Greenock  a  cargo 
of  30,000  lobsters,  obtained  chiefly  on  the  coasts  of  Lewis 
and  Skye.     The  value  of  these  to  the  captors  would  be 
upwards  of  £1000,  and  in  the  English  fishmarkets  the  lot 
would  bring  at  least  four  times  that  sum.     As  showing  how 
enormous  the  food  wealth  of  the  sea  still  is,  notwithstanding 
the  quantity  taken  out  of  it,  I  may  cite  here  a  few  brief 
particulars  of  a  little  experiment  of  a  charitable  nature 
which  was  tried  by  a  gentleman  who  took  a  warm  interest 
in  the  Highland  fishermen,  and  the  results  of  which  ho 
himself  lately  made  public.     Commiserating  the  wretched- 
ness which  he  hud  witnessed  among  many,  who,  although 
anxious  to  labor,  wore  unable  to  procure  work,  and  at  the 
same  time  feeling  that  the  usual  method  of  assisting  them 
was  based  on  a  mistaken  principle,  this  gentleman  under- 
took the  establishment  of  a  fishery  upon  a  small  scale  at 


294 


AMERICAN  Fl^fl  CULTURE. 


his  own  expense.  He  therefore  expended  a  sum  of  £600, 
with  which  he  procured  eight  boats,  completely  equipped, 
and  a  small  smack  of  sixteen  tons.  The  crews,  consisting 
of  thirty  men,  he  furnished  with  all  the  necessary  fishing 
materials,  paying  the  men  weekly  wages  ranging  from  nine 
to  thirteen  shillings,  part  of  the  sum  being  in  meal.  The 
result  of  this  experiment  was,  that  these  eight  boats  sent 
to  the  London  market  in  a  few  months  as  many  lobsters  as 
reimbursed  the  original  cost  of  the  fishing  plant.  The  men 
and  their  families  were  thus  rescued  from  a  state  of  semi- 
starvation,  and  are  now  living  in  comfort,  with  plenty  sur- 
rounding their  dwellings ;  and  have,  besides,  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  their  present  independent  condition  has 
been  achieved  principally  by  means  of  their  own  well-sus- 
tained industry. 

A  very  large  share  of  our  lobsters  is  derived  from  Nor- 
way, as  many  as  30,000  sometimes  arriving  from  the  fjords 
in  a  single  day.  The  Norway  lobsters  are  much  esteemed, 
and  we  pay  the  Norwegians  something  like  £20,000  a  year 
for  this  one  article  of  commerce.  They  are  brought  over 
in  welled  st-^am-vessels,  and  are  kept  in  the  wooden  reser- 
voirs already  alluded  to,  some  of  which  may  be  seen  at  Hole 
Haven,  on  the  Essex  side  of  the  Thames.  Once  upon  a 
time,  some  forty  years  ago,  one  of  these  wooden  lobster- 
stores  was  run  into  by  a  Kussian  frigate,  whereby  some 
20,000  lobsters  were  set  adrift  to  sprawl  in  the  muddy  waters 
of  the  Thames.  In  order  that  the  great  mass  of  animals 
confined  in  these  places  may  bo  kept  upon  their  best  beha- 
vior, a  species  of  cruelty  has  to  be  perpetrated  to  prevent 
their  tearing  each  other  to  pieces :  the  great  claw  is,  there- 
fore, rendered  paralytic  by  means  of  a  wooden  peg  being 
driven  into  a  lower  joint. 

I  have  no  intention  of  describing  the  whole  members  of 
the  Crustacea;  they  are  much  too  numerous  to  admit  of 


APPENDIX. 


/ 


295 


that,  ranging  as  they  do  from  the  comparatively  giant-like 
crab  and  lobster  down  to  the  millions  of  minute  insects 
which  at  some  places  confer  a  phosphorescent  appearance 
on  the  waters  of  the  sea.  My  limits  will  necessarily  confine 
me  to  a  few  of  the  principal  members  of  the  family— the 
edible  Crustacea,  in  fact;  and  these  I  shall  endeavor  to 
speak  about  ia  such  plain  language  as  I  think  my  readers 
will  understand,  leaving  out  as  much  of  the  fashionable 
"  scientific  slang"  as  I  possibly  can. 

The  more  we  study  the  varied  Crustacea  of  the  British 
shores,  the  more  we  are  struck  with  their  wonderful  forma- 
tion, and  the  peculiar  habits  of  their  members.     I  once 
heard  a  clergyman  at  a  lecture  describe  a  lobster  in  brief 
but  fitting  terms  as  a  standing  romance  of  the  sea— an 
animal  whose  clothing  is  a  shell,  which  it  casts  away  once 
a  year  in  order  that  it  may  put  on  a  larger  suit-an  animal 
whose  flesh  is  in  its  tail  and  legs,  and  whose  hair  is  in  the 
inside  of  its  breast,  whose  stomach  is  in  its  head,  and  which 
is  changed  every  year  for  a  new  one,  and  which  new  one 
begins  Its  life  by  devouring  the  old  !  an  animal  which  car- 
ries  Its  eggs  within  its  body  till  they  become  fruitful  and 
then  carries  them  outwardly  under  its  tail ;  an  animal  which 
can  throw  oflF  its  legs  when  they  become  troublesome,  and 
can  m  a  brief  time  replace  them  with  others;  and  lastly 
an  animal  with  very  sharp  eyes  placed  in  movable  horns' 
The  picture  is  not  at  all  overdrawn.     It  is  a  wondrous  crea- 
ture  this  lobster,  and  I  may  be  allowed  a  brief  space  in 
which  to  describe  the  curious  provision  of  nature  which 
allows  for  an  increase  of  growth,  or  provides  for  the  renewal 
of  a  broken  limb,  and  which  applies  generally  to  the  edible 
Crustacea. 

The  habits  of  the  principal  Crustacea  are  now  pretty  well 
understood,  and  their  m.,.lo  of  growth  is  so  peculiar  as  to 
render  a  clo^o  inspection  of  their  habits  a  most  iuteresting 


296 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTURE. 


Study.  As  has  been  stated,  a  good-sized  lobster  will  yield 
about  20,000  eggs,  and  these  are  hatched,  being  so  nearly 
ripe  before  they  are  abandoned  by  the  mother,  with  great 
rapidity — it  is  vsaid  in  forty-eight  hours — and  grow  quickly, 
although  the  young  lobster  passes  through  manj  changes 
before  it  is  fit  to  be  presented  at  table.  During  the  early 
periods  of  growth  it  casts  its  shell  frequeutly.  This  won- 
derful provision  for  an  increase  of  size  in  the  lobster  has 
been  minutely  studied  during  its  period  of  moulting.  Mr. 
Jonathan  Couch  says  the  additional  size  which  is  gained 
at  each  period  of  exuviation  is  perfectly  surprising,  and  it 
is  wonderful  to  see  the  complete  covering  of  the  animal 
cast  off  like  a  suit  of  old  clothes,  while  it  hides,  naked  and 
soft,  in  a  convenient  hole,  awaiting  the  growth  of  its  new 
crust.  In  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  great  soft 
animal  ever  inhabited  the  cast-off  habitation  which  is  lying 
beside  it,  because  the  lobster  looks,  and  really  is,  so  much 
larger.  The  lobster,  crab,  etc.,  change  their  shells  about 
every  six  weeks  during  the  first  year  of  their  age,  every 
two  months  during  the  second  year,  and  then  the  changing 
of  the  shell  becomes  less  frequent,  being  reduced  to  four 
times  a  year.  It  is  supposed  that  this  animal  becomes 
reproductive  at  the  age  of  five  years. 

When  the  female  Crustacea  retire  in  order  to  undergo 
their  exuviation  they  are  watched,  or  rather  guarded,  by 
the  males ;  and  if  one  male  be  taken  away,  in  A  short  time 
another  will  be  found  to  have  taken  his  place.  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  particular  season  for  moulting;  the 
period  differs  in  different  places,  according  to  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  and  other  circumstances,  so  that  we 
might  have  shell-fish  (and  white-fish  too)  all  the  year  round 
were  a  little  attention  paid  to  the  different  seasons  of  exuvia- 
tion and  egg-laying. 


APPENDIX. 


297 


The  mode  in  which  a  hen  lobster  lays  her  eggs  is  curious  : 
she  lodges  a  quantity  of  them  under  her  tail,  and  bears 
them  about  for  a  considerable  period;  indeed,  till  they  are 
so  nearly  hatched  as  only  to  require  a  very  brief  time  to 
mature  them  *     When  the  eggs  are  .%st  exuded  from  the 
ovary  they  are  very  small,  but  before  they  are  committed 
to  the  sand  or  water  they  increase  considerably  in  size,  and 
become  as  large  as  good  sized  shot.     Lobsters  may  be  found 
with  eggs,  or  ''  in  berry"  as  it  is  called,  all  the  year  round ; 
and  when  the  hen  is  in  process  of  depositing  her  eggs  she 
IS  not  good  for  food,  the  flesh  being  poor,  watery,  and  desti- 
tute of  flavor. 

XIV. 

SALMON  HATCHING  ESTABLISHMENT  ON  THE 
MIRAMICHI. 

Just  before  going  to  press,  I  have  received  the  following 
additional  information  from  Rev.  Livingston  Stone  con- 
cerning  this  project.  It  will  be  seen  from  his  remarks, 
that  all  the  difficulties  which  have  heretofore  existed  in  the 
transportation  of  salmon  ova  to  the  United  States,  are  soon 
to  be  surmounted.  AH  of  the  Atlantic  states  north  of  the 
Chesapeake  bay  may  therefore  have  an  opportunity,  at  but 
small  expense,  of  restoring  exhausted  rivers,  and  trying  the 
experiment  of  naturalizing  salmon  in  those  which  were  not 
its  natural  habitat. 

''  The  salmon  breeding  establishment  on  the  Miramichi 
was  started^by^yself,  and  is  owned  nominally  by  myself, 

*  Lobsters  collect  in  large  numbers'rti^^^ii^irth^^^'^l^^ 
ow  water  along  the  sandy  shores  of  the  bay  of  Chaleurs,  to  deposit 
their  eggs.     Such  a  place  is  called  by  the  habitans  "a  lobster 
cumpa 


298 


AMERICAN  FISH  CULTUKB. 


although  others  will  be  interested  in  it  to  some  extent. 
The  object  of  it  is,  to  supply  salmon  spawn  and  young  sal- 
mon for  stocking  the  American  rivers.  The  present  plan 
IS  to  collect  just  before  the  spawning  season,  as  many  live 
salmon  as  possible,  in  a  large  enclosure  provided  with  arti- 
ficial spawning-beds,  and  to  take  the  spawn  from  the  parent 
fish,  after  the  manner  that  trout  spawn  are  taken. 

"The  eggs  will  be  kept  at  the  Miramichi  until  old 
enough  for  transportation,  when  they  will  be  brought  to 
headquarters  at  Charlestown,  and  placed  in  the  hatching- 
beds,  there  to  be  hatched. 

"There  are  at  present  thirty-two  troughs,  each  twenty 
feet  in  length,  prepared  to  receive  the  salmon  ova,  with 
provision  for  more  if  needed.  These  hatching-troughs  are 
in  a  building  made  for  the  purpose,  sixty  feet  by  twenty, 
seven  wide.  The  troughs  will  be  able  to  receive  2000  ova 
to  the  foot.  The  spawn  will  be  ready  to  transport  from  the 
Miramichi  about  twenty  days  after  being  taken,  and  will  be 
ready  for  the  second  transportation  any  time  after  that." 


St 


INDEX 


Alewife 

•  •  • 

Great  haul  of  . 
j^merican  fish  for  English  waters 
Appendix     .  .  .  , 

Bass,  Striped     . 
Black  bass  of  the  Lakes     . 
Naturalization  of — 
By  Cuttyhunk  Club 
Prof.  Agnel 
Samuel  T.  Tisdale    . 
Introduction  into  the  Hudson 
Black  bass  of  the  South  and  West 
Introduction  into  the  Potomac 
Catch  of,  in  summer  of  1865 
Brook  trout — Naturalization  of    . 

Carp      .... 

Culture  of        .  .  , 

Catfish    .  . 

Transportation  of 
Clove  Spring  Trout  Ponds 
Cold  Spring  Trout  Ponds 
Comacchio         .  .  , 

Crappie 
Culture  of  the  shad 

salmon 

eels 
Cuttyhunk  Club     . 
Cyprinidae 

Eel  culture 
Esocidse 


PAOB 

176 
177 

278 
231 

203 
205 

207 
206 
20U 
206 
211 
211 
212 
184 

217 
244 
213 
215 
272 
264 
219 
205 
141 
102 
219 
185,  206 
217 

.      219 

218 


Kzj'jj 


300 


INDEX. 


Filterers       .            .            . 

PAGE 

49 

Fish  culture      ..... 

.      ■       13 

What  it  is        . 

14 

Its  advantage  over  natural  propagation 

14,  15 

Object  of          .            .            .            .            . 

16 

Its  antiquity         .            .            .            .            , 

16,  17 

Of  the  Chinese            .... 

16 

Of  the  Romans       .... 

17 

Practised  by  Dom  Pinchon     .            ,            . 

17 

bj  Jacobi            .            . 

18 

by  Young 

19 

by  Shaw 

19 

by  Hogg 

19 

in  Norway 

19 

in  France 

19 

by  Joseph  Remy 

20 

A  new  science              .... 

20 

Importance  of        . 

25 

Its  utility  in  stocking  rivers     . 

16 

Food,  allowance  for  a  given  number  of  trout 

76 

For  adult  trout 

73 

For  young  trout 

68 

Natural             .            .            .            .             , 

76,  231 

Frozen  salmon  spawn               .            .            . 

108 

Fur-bearing  animals,  cultivation  of         .            . 

.274 

Gourami             .            .            .            .            ,      , 

250 

Adaptations  for  living  out  of  water               . 

.      261 

Habitat       ..... 

250 

Characteristics              .... 

.       252 

A  fighting  fish        .... 

252 

Grayling                  ..... 

.       196 

New  species  of       .            .            . 

196 

Hatching,  time  of               .... 

15 

Time  occupied  in                .            ,            ,            , 

16 

EflFect  of  temperature  on         .            ,            , 

29 

Spring  water  necessary  for           ,            .            , 

29 

Apparatus,  French    .              ... 

42 

American         ,            .            ,            , 

43 

In-door                 .            ,            . 

45 

Hatching-house,  plan  for         .            , 

.  46,  47,  48 

Hatching-troughs               .... 

49 

Herring              ...... 

176 

Huningue,  account  of         .            ,            ,            , 

85 

Hybrids,  remarks  on                 .            ,            ,            . 

183 

INDEX. 

Incubation  .... 

Instruments  used  in 

Time  of,  with  salmon  spawn 

Time  of,  with  trout  spawn  at  different  temperature 'of  water 
Introductory  remarks         ... 

Jacobi,  discovery  of  artificial  propagation 

Lake  Fusaro  .  , 

Lake  trout 
Lucrine  Lake 


Maggot  factory 

Maggots  as  trout  food 

Manipulation  of  salmon 

of  trout        .  , 

Manner  of  feeding  young  trout 

Martin  &  Gillone's  establishment 

Mink — Cultivation  of 

•  •  • 

Naturalization  of  fishes 

of  brook  trout  . 

of  lake  trout 

of  Schoodio  and  Sebago  salmon 

of  sea  trout  of  Canada 

of  grayling 

of  whitefish 

of  Oswego  bass  . 

of  smelt 

of  rockfish,  or  striped  bass      . 

of  white  perch 

of  crappie 

of  black  bass  of  the  Lakes 

"  "      West 

of  catfish 
of  carp  . 

of  pike 

Osmerus  .  ,  . 

Otsego  bass 

Ova— Consequence  if  all  of  them  produced  fish 

Of  whom  the,  can  bo  procured 

Packing  and  transportation  of 

Placing  them  in  troughs 

Manner  of  removing  them  from  troughs  for 

How  to  examine  them 

Appearance  of  during  incubation 

26 


transportation 


301 

PAQB 

42 
50 
107 
64 
13 

245 

227 
186 
227 


75 
74 
109,  122 
52 
69 
241 
275 

178 

184 

186 

188 

193 

196 

197 

200 

200 

203 

204 

205 

205 

211 

213 

217 

218 

200 
200 

16 

41 

58 

56 

60 

60 

61 


"^i 

302 


INDEX. 


PAOB 

Oyster  culture 

.      225 

An  hermaphrodite 

•                        • 

226 

Fecundity  of                .            , 

.V    22e 

Manner  of  incubating 

•                        • 

225 

Growth  of        . 

.      220 

Chief  object  in  culture  of 

•                        • 

227 

Culture  at  Fusaro 

227,  229 

at  Isle  of  Ree 

•                        • 

228 

at  Bay  of  St.  Bruio 

.      228 

English  and  French 

•                        • 

229 

Decrease  of  in  Eastern  States 

.      380 

Value  of  in  Virginia 

•                        • 

230 

Percidae 

.      208 

Pike       .            .            .            . 

•                        • 

218 

Ponds— Their  shape 

41 

Series  of 

•                        • 

33,  34 

Method  of  shading 

31 

Depth  and  size  of  . 

•                        • 

87 

Transfer  of  trout  from  one  to  another 

85 

Of  Jeremiah  Comfort 

•                        • 

87 

Of  Peter  Christie 

.      272 

Of  Dr.  J.  H.  Slack 

•                        • 

287 

Of  Rev.  L.  Stone 

204 

Seth  Green's            .            . 

•                        • 

96 

Stephen  H.  Ainsworth's 

91 

Protection  of  from  muskrats 

•                        • 

.    32 

Stocking  of      .             , 

.        89 

Profits  of  trout-breeding 

•                        • 

79 

Replenishing  Weatern  waters         . 

.      179 

Rockfish 

t                        • 

308 

Salmon — Culture  of 

.      102 

Instiiict 

•                        • 

.    102,  103 

Of  different  rivers        .            . 

.       104 

Former  abundance  of         , 

•                        t 

105 

Inward  migration  of    . 

.      105 

Marking 

•                        • 

100 

Long  time  of  incubation  in  American 

waters 

.108 

Growth  of  fry  of    .            . 

• 

•                        • 

110 

Of  the  Dunulw 

• 

.     m 

Naturalization  of  in  rivers  of  Middle 

States      , 

115 

Fishwaya  for 

• 

.      120 

Early  fecundity  of  males 

• 

•                      • 

111 

Statistics 

• 

.  137,  138,  139 

Hatching  of  the  ova  on  the  MiramichI 

• 

195 

INDEX. 


803 


PAOB 

225 
225 
225 
225 
226 
227 
7,  229 
228 
228 
229 
230 
230 

203 

218 

41 

83,34 

31 

37 

35 

37 

272 

287 

264 

96 

91 

32 

39 

79 

179 
203 

102 
2,  103 
104 
105 
105 
106 
108 
110 
113 
116 
120 
111 
J,  139 
195 


Salmon  culture  in  the  United  States 

PAGE 
.         113 

Worthy  of  government  patronage 

116 

Salmon  fishing  on  the  Qoodbout 

• 

.      117 

on  the  Nipis8i|,ait 

• 

118 

Salmon  rivers  of  Maine     . 

• 

.      118 

Salmon  breeding  at  Stormontfield 

• 

121 

at  Tongueland  on 

the  Dee 

.      124 

on  the  Galtray 

* 

124 

at  Ballisodare     . 

• 

.      127 

on  the  Doohulla 

• 

132 

in  Australia 

• 

.      185 

on  the  Miramiohi, 

N.B. 

195 

Salmonidse 

• 

.       184 

Salmo  Canadensis          .            . 

• 

193 

Schoodio  salmon     .            .            . 

•• 

.      184 

Sebago  salmon              .            . 

• 

188 

Sea  trout      .... 

• 

.      193 

Qreat  abundance  of            . 

• 

194 

Sea  trout  of  Canada            .            . 

• 

.      193 

Shad— Culture  of 

• 

141 

Instinct 

• 

.      144 

Analogous  to  salmon         . 

• 

142 

Former  abundance  of 

• 

.      143 

Incubation  of  its  ova         f 

• 

153 

Introduction  of  into  Gulf  of  Mexico 

.      150 

Ascent  over  dam  of  Susquehanna  Canal  Co.        . 

172 

Reports  of  Colonel  Worrall  on 

fishways  for            . 

164,  172 

Two  varieties  of     .            . 

* 

141 

Migrations  of              .            l 

■ 

.      142 

Food  of       . 

• 

142 

Advantages  of  artificial  propagation  of 

.      146 

Growth  of   . 

.     162,148 

Hatching  of  at  Holyoke           , 

.       153 

Fecundity  of 

158 

Size  and  expansion  of  ova      . 

.      167 

Embryonic  development  of 

168 

Hatohing-box  for         .            . 

.      164 

Siluridaa             .            .            ■. 

218 

Smelt            .            •            .            . 

.      200 

Striped  basi      .            .            . 

JOS 

Taking  spawn 

.        61 

Taking  trout  from  spawniug-raoe 

62 

Thymallns                .            .            , 

.      188 

Trout— The 

26 

Its  adaptability  to  (niKure      . 

29 

Its  season  of  spawning      . 

26 

'^^ 


304 


INDEX. 


Trout—  * 

Appearance  of  sexes  at  time  of  spawning 

Habits         ... 

Subsequent  recuperation         , 

Transportation  of  , 

Growth  of         .  ,  ^ 

Enemies  of  .  ,     ' 

Natural  food  of 
Trout  fry— Treatment  of 

Feeding  of        . 

Disposition  to  escape 

Transferring  them  to  nurseries 
Transportation  of 
Naturalization  of 
Trout-breeding 

A  branch  of  farming 
Will  it  pay  .  .      ■      , 

Importance  of  .  , 

Trout  Dale  Spring  Hatching-House  and  Ponds 

White  perch    ,         ,  ,  , 

Whiteflsh 


PAQI 

28 
27 

^  28 
89 
88 
86 

231 
67 
68 

7a 

71 

72 

184 

26 

72 

82,79 

100 

287 

204 
197 


Ml 
gn 
uni 
aut 
J 
the 


THE    END. 


PAOI 

28 
27 
28 
39 
83 
85 

231 
67 
68 
70 
71 
72 

184 
26 
72 
79 

100 

287 

lU 
197 


ERRATA. 


The  plate  facing  page  141,  is  taken  from  the  first  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Fish  Commissioners,  and  represents  the  successive 
growth  of  the  young  shad  from  the  age  of  two  or  three  weeks 
until  the  time  of  migration  to  sea  late  in  the  summer,  or  in  early' 
autumn.  '' 

Page  48,  line  17,  for  ..bey„„d  to  the  middle,"  read  ..beyond 
the  middle." 


